Never turning back
by fated blondie
Summary: Sakura is fed up with her friends treating her so badly. So when Itachi shows up and confronts her about it, will she leave and try for a better life with Akatsuki, or will she stay and make the best out of her life. Main pairing :Itasaku OOCness!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I never will. End of story. Now onto the other story...

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_**"inner Sakura"**_

this is my first fan fiction so go easy on me...well enjoy!

**Quick note. This chapter has been updated to fix all the problems that were wrong with it.**

**That's what I get for coming back to look at this 6 years later ;)**

**Chapter 1**

It was a peaceful afternoon in Konoha. A little warm, but the weather came with the territory. After all, Konohagakure was the center of Fire country. Lush, green forests, five-star hot springs, and warm weather 365 days of the year. But not a hot, dry hear that Suna had to offer. A sometimes muggy, oppressive heat that sent everyone running for cover in a cool building. But during the spring, it was a gentle, warm heat that made everyone from Fire country a happy person.

As one of the major Ninja villages, Konoha came equipped with dozens of training grounds and private dojos for all to enjoy and focus on becoming the best they can be. One such training ground found four such ninja doing exactly that. Well, three. Discount the village's proclaimed 'laziest ninja' training his team to the core.

He went by Hatake Kakashi, or the white fang. His team, better known as team 7, included Uchiha Sasuke, survivor of the Uchiha massacre. Uzamaki Naruto, vessel to the dangerous Kyuubi. And Haruno Sakura, pink haired apprentice to the fifth hokage.

The team was part of what many knew to be the 'Konoha twelve.' Since becoming chuunin, team 7 has been training even harder to become the best they could be to serve their village well.

"597...598...599...600...Good, good. Stretch it out a bit. Once you've stretched, I want you three to do 75 laps around the training grounds." Kakashi announced, calmly flipping a page in his favorite orange book. Sasuke gave his sensei a condescending look, before standing up to stretch out his arms.

"Awww but Kaka-sensei, I'm tired and hungryyyyy. Can't we take a break?" Naruto whined, jogging over to his relaxing sensei to poke him in the head. Kakashi didn't even bother to look up at the orange-clad ninja.

"Naruto, you baka! Get over here and start stretching. When has sensei ever given us a break? You're wasting your breath!" Sakura shouted, swatting at her long pink hair when it drifted into her face. She was stretched out along the ground, her legs out in front of her and she reached for her toes.

"No. Now get going. There's no such thing as a break when it comes to being a ninja." Kakashi swatted at his obnoxious student and disappeared in a flurry of leaves, reappearing on a branch just above. Kakashi flipped the page in his Icha-Icha paradise book and continued to read, ignoring the glare Naruto was undoubtedly giving him from below. Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out and jogged off towards his two teammates and began to stretch.

75 laps and a lot of complaining later...

"Okay you guys did a good job today. We do have a mission tomorrow, so make sure you pack exactly what you need and get plenty of rest. We'll meet at the gates at 6:00 AM sharp. Don't be late." Kakashi spoke, staring down at his three worn out students.

" You shouldn't be saying things you aren't able to keep." Sakura muttered under her breath, referring to his well known tendency to be hours late for everything.

"What was that Sakura?" Kakashi asked, his eyes shifting to stare at his only female student.

"Nothing Kakashi-sensei." she retorted back, her arms crossing over her chest childishly. She knew he heard the sarcasm, but she was just too tired to care.

"35 more laps for talking back to your sensei." Kakashi said, ignoring the incredulous look that came upon her face. "As for you two, you're free to go. Ichiraku is on me."

"YAY!" Naruto yelled and started running off towards Ichiraku.

" W-wait! That's not fair. I didn't do anything wrong!" Sakura said as Kakashi and Sasuke started to walk away towards the village center.

"Yes it is. Now get going before I add on more laps for you to do." And with that, Kakashi left with Sasuke trailing off behind him.

Sakura decided it was best not to scream '_I hate you you stupid pervert'_. She didn't need more laps to do. So she started running, determined to get the laps done as quickly as possible, _'That's so not fair. Naruto and Sasuke say worse stuff and he doesn't punish them. But if I say something mean to him he makes me do laps._'

_**"I agree."**_

_'Hey! Where have you been all this time?'_

_**"Around."**_

_'Oh yes, what an answer... Whatever, point is, Kaka-sensei is mean. I just want to punch something. These laps suck.'_

_**"EH!? don't punch me! I didn't do anything. Only 34 more laps to go."**_

_'I can't hit you idiot. You're in my head.'_

"_**Oh yeah... Well keep going."**_

_'Shut up. Go back to whatever you were doing and leave me alone.'_

"YOU SUCK SENSEI!" She yelled and splintered the nearest tree with her fist.

"All he does is treat me differently than Naruto and Sasuke. Treats me as if I'm still a weak and stupid kunoichi. But I'm not! How can I be as weak and stupid as he thinks when I'm Tsunade-samas' most promising student?" She growled angrily. Out of pure rage, Sakura punched the ground as hard as she could, creating a massive crater.

"I wonder what they would do if i were to just up and disappear.. Probably wouldn't even notice I was gone." Sakura pondered aloud, and started walking off towards her home to pack for the mission.

Unbeknownst to her, someone was listening to every word she said.

"Hmmm, what a strong, spunky little kunoichi. A bit temperamental, but it looks like she has so much potential... So she wants to see what happens if she leaves? We could probably use a strong girl liker her on our side. Rumor has it that she was trained as a medic nin under Tsunade. What do you think?" the man asked in a half-whisper to his partner. Said partner scoffed, eying the pinkette as she disappeared from their sight.

"I don't know. Leader's gonna kill us if we just randomly bring someone back with us. Although I do agree, we could use a new kunoichi on our side. Especially one with so much potential. Let's talk to leader first." the second man replied, turning to look at his companion.

"Agreed."

And with that said, the two men disappeared, leaving no trace of their presence.

_'I can't can't believe I was stuck doing those laps. What a jerk' _Sakura thought angrily, stalking towards Ichiraku. She decided to see if her team was still there so that she could give her sensei a bone-crunching punch to the face. Well, maybe not.

She glanced at her watch when she came to the conclusion that her team had in fact left for home. Plenty of time for some dinner.

"Can I help you miss?" the owner, Teuchi asked, approaching the counter with a small smile.

"Hi Teuchi san. Could I get a bowl of beef ramen please? I'm starved!" Teuchi gave Sakura a thumbs up and turned to head for the kitchen.

"Sure thing Sakura. It'll be out in a few. Ayame is just finishing up washing all the bowls from Naruto-kuns dinner."

_'Sounds like Kakashi-sensei's wallet is much lighter now. Naruto must have eaten at least twelve bowls.'_

_**"Oh yeah, cause sensei TOTALLY paid for it..."**_

"Here's you ramen Sakura. Enjoy." Teuchi said, carefully placing the bowl of steaming ramen in front of the pink-haired ninja.

"Thank you!" Sakura replied, giving Teuchi a big smile. He returned the smile and stepped off to the side to help another customer.

"Itadakimasu." Sakura mumbled to herself and broke her chopsticks. With her usual slow movements, Sakura began enjoying her ramen, lost in her thoughts about her team.

Once Sakura was done with her ramen, she paid a happy Ayame and left for home. On her way, she passed by the local ninja lounge where all the ninja of Konoha could go to relax after a stressful mission or, for older ninja, to grab a bottle of sake and get away from their whiny students and/or teammates for a while.

As Sakura passed one of the large windows, she noticed that the entire Konoha 12 (including her sensei) were laughing and having a good time without her. It looked as if they were celebrating something. Hurt, she decided to go in and sit down and hope they saw her.

"What can I get for you miss?" the waitress asked, sauntering up to her with a polite smile as she slipped into a chair.

"Just a bottle of water please." Sakura said, barely sparing the waitress a glance. She was staring intently at the wooden table.

"Sure think miss. I'll be right back." And with that, the waitress walked away.

Hearing laughter, Sakura looked over to see Naruto being an idiot as always. Even

Kakashi-sensei was laughing. She also noticed that Ino was sitting on Sasuke's lap and Hinata, who has had a crush on Naruto since as far back as she could remember, was actually sitting on his lap. What the hell was going on? Where was she when all this happened?

"How could they?" she said to herself as she held back tears. Angry tears.

_**"Maybe they are...um...planning...something...?"**_

_' Go...Away...Now!'_

"Here is your water miss." the waitress said, placing the bottle of water down in front of Sakura.

"Thank you." Sakura replied quietly. The woman bowed and sauntered off towards another table.

Sakura nearly ripped the cap off the bottle and began to chug it faster than she should. Immediately, she began coughing.

"Stupid... water..." Sakura choked out, slamming the bottle down on the table. Sakura swiped at the tears that formed in her eyes and looked over at the table of ninja. They didn't even spare a glance.

Hearing more laughter, she abruptly stood. "I'm so outta here."

So she threw down a couple bills for the water and started for the door._' I'm in here for ten minutes and they didn't even notice me. I was in their sight too. They just don't care. And watch, when I go by them, they'll notice me and act stupid.'_ She thought as she tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill.

The exit was unfortunately just beyond their table so she had to walk by her "so-called" friends.

" Oh my gosh! Hi Sakura! What are you doing here?" Ino asked with a false cheery voice, noticing Sakura before anyone else did. That just made Sakura feel even worse.

Sakura could feel the tears trying to come out but she wouldn't let anyone see her cry. She didn't want them to see her a weak. Well, weaker than they already thought.

"Just getting a drink. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than waste my time with you people." She said coldly and started to walk around Ino.

By then, everyone sitting at the table had gone quiet and were watching her in shock. They had never heard her talk like that to her best friend. They've always called each other names and fought over Sasuke, but not like this. Something was wrong.

"But wait! Sakura whats wrong...?" Ino said and grabbed her wrist.

"EVERYTHING IS WRONG! NOW LET ME GO! I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! " Sakura yelled as tears began to stream down her flushed face.

She pulled herself free from Ino's grasp and ran out the door. "SAKURA-CHAN! WAAAIIIIITTTT! COME BACK!" Naruto yelled, trying to get her to stop.

" NO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"She screamed, cutting her hand across the air in a slashing motion. With that, Sakura turned around and ran off in the opposite direction, towards her home.

* * *

**Hey everyone, just like to thank you really quick for reading my story.**

**It's my first story I've ever written, but it has some serious updates to it.**

**I originally posted this back in 2007 when I was 15, and it had some serious grammatical errors.  
**

**So, nothing really changed, I just cleaned it up the best I could to make it easier on the eyes.**

**So again, thanks! And I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of many :D**


	2. Chapter 2

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_**"inner Sakura"**_

* * *

**chapter 2**

_'How could they do that to me? I thought they were my friends' _Sakura was standing at her drawers picking out clothing to pack for her mission the next day.

She was going to wear her usual garb: beige skirt with the black shorts underneath and a red top with the white circular symbol on the back. She also packed her undergarments, bathing necessities, black jogging shorts, some black and white tee-shirts, a couple standard issue long sleeve shirts, and her medic kit.

Once she finished packing she threw her bag by the door and laid down on her bed.

"Why would they party without me? They always invite me to a party. Its just so unbelievable that my 'so-called friends' would have a party behind my back.'' Sakura growled, her eyes glaring a proverbial hole through the ceiling.

"_**You know, maybe they WERE trying to hide it from you. Did you notice how Ino was sitting on Sasuke's lap? They are trying to hide from you that they are going out... Now go to sleep. It's gonna be a long day."**_

"I hate them." she hissed softly and quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, she took a long hot shower to relax. She knew she was going to need it before she had to deal with her team. Exiting the bathroom, Sakura quickly got dressed in her typical medic garb and ran a brush through her damp hair. Glaring at her plain reflection, Sakura turned to the door and grabbed her bag from the floor.

"This is going to be a long mission." Sakura grumbled, taking her time down the steps and entering her plain kitchen. She grabbed an apple and set to work peeling it with a sharpened kunai while she waited for her toast to finish.

"Oh great, I still have a gallon of milk left. Well that's going to be gross by the time we get back.." Sakura pushed it to the side to grab her jam.

With her toast eaten, she grabbed her happily peeled apple, slung her bag over her shoulder, and made for the door.

On her way out, Sakura made sure her door was locked before heading off. All she knew is that the mission was going to last a week and that they were heading off towards lightning country. Kakashi was supposed to fill them in on the mission details before they leave.

_'Hmmm, looks like I'm kinda early. No ones here yet.' _

_**" You shouldn't be that surprised."**_

_'Oh good morning. I thought you died. You were so silent last night after I told you off '_

She sat down against the wall next to the front gate and closed her eyes. The only noise she could her was the juicy crunch she made when she bit into her apple and the birds chirping happily off in the distance.

_**" You're so mean. I didn't die, I got scared so I left you alone."**_

_' Ah, you're too kind.' _Sakura let out a small sigh and took another bite of her apple.

_**" So where's Naruto and Sasuke? They at least should be here."**_

_' They usually show up either with Kakashi or 5 minutes before he arrives. I'm the only one who does everything right, and I still get punished. Sucks...'_

_**" I agree. But hey, what are you gonna do? They're boys. Of course sensei is going to favor them over you."**_

'Sure, b_ut still...They could at least show up on time for missions. I could care less about training. Missions are more important.'_

Unknown to Sakura, the rest of her team was standing their watching her with a look of pure amusement on their faces. She looked like she was sleeping because she had her eyes closed, but at the same time she wasn't because it looked like she was talking to someone by occasionally shaking her head or letting out an angry sigh.

"Is she okay Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. He leaned forward to shake her but Sasuke held him back.

"Leave her alone. Maybe we should just leave her here." He suggested with a small smirk playing across his face. Naruto whipped his head around to glare at Sasuke.

"No that would be mean. Besides, Tsunade baa-chan would kill us if we left her prized student all alone." Naruto spoke as he got himself free of Sasuke's grip.

" Fine. Dobe." Sasuke said and stepped back, shoving his hands in his pocket.

" Don't call me that." Naruto growled, turning to glare at Sasuke with a raised fist. So much for Sakura.

"What? Oh, Dobe? But you are." Sasuke retorted back, the smirk coming back.

" I know how much you two like calling each other names but we do have to get going." Kakashi said. He walked over and lightly shook Sakura.

"Sakura, are you okay? We have to leave now." Kakashi said. Sakura quickly opened her eyes to see Kakashi staring at her and Naruto and Sasuke in the background trying to kill each other.

She sighed. Typical...

"I'm perfectly fine. Just waiting for the three of you to grace me with your presence." Sakura stood up and pulled her bag up with her. Shouldering her bag, she turned away from her sensei and looked off towards the main gate.

" HEY! NARUTO, SASUKE! STOP FIGHTING AND LETS GO!" Sakura yelled and walked out the main gate and started walking. It would take two days to get to lightning country.

_'At least they forgot about last night.' _

They walked in semi silence the entire time. The only talking came from Naruto's usual bickering and Sasuke yelling back at him to shut up. At dusk, Kakashi decided to stop and make camp.

The four ninja dropped from the canopy and placed their stuff to the ground, Naruto immediately sprawling out on the ground and letting out a blissful sigh of relief. Sakura kept herself from kicking him in annoyance.

"Sakura, we'll leave you to set up camp and make dinner. The three of us are going to go wash up in the river just ahead. Let us know when dinner is done." Kakashi said and led Naruto and Sasuke off towards the river camp was being set up near.

"What the hell?! Why should I do it all? So not fair." Sakura muttered angrily to herself as she pulled out a scroll from within Kakashi's small pack. With a couple swift hand signs, three tents and a small cooking set appeared.

With the tents set up and everyone's packs set within each tent, Sakura set about making a fire. Once it was lit she decided to got to the river and catch some fish for dinner. As she approached the river, Sakura concealed her chakra and snuck up quietly to see what it was they were talking about.

"We leave tomorrow at 7:00 AM. We'll be in lightning country by 1:00 PM tomorrow afternoon." Kakashi said, staring lazily up at the sky. Sakura immediately zoned in on his face. He wasn't wearing his mask.

_'SERIOUSLY?! He's not wearing his mask! He has no problem showing the boys but he couldn't show me? What an ass...'_

"Sounds like a plan sensei! Out of curiosity, since Sakura-chan isn't here, why did you make her do all the work? I coulda set up the tents." Naruto asked, his hands skimming the water's surface in apparent boredom.

"I felt too lazy to do it myself. Besides, It's good training. You and I both know she could use it. She may be the Hokage's apprentice, but she's still just as weak as she was 4 years ago when this team was first formed." Kakashi said. He grinned when Sasuke started laughing.

"Good one sensei. You're completely right. She's unbelievably weak and damn near useless. Even Ino has more use than her. And that's saying something." Sasuke said, his ever present smirk dancing across his handsome face.

Sakura had heard enough. Not caring whether they heard her, Sakura stood up and raced off down the river, leaving the boys to their chat.

_'How could they think I'm weak? They've never even seen my strength yet. They just won't give me a chance. I wish they would just let go of the past and let me prove myself.'_ She must have ran at least two miles downriver before collapsing against a rock, tears streaming down her pale face.

"Hmmm, what do we have here? A little kunoichi all alone, crying like a pathetic little girl." Sakura let out a surprised gasp and jumped up to face the person behind the voice. Her eyes went wide and her heart clenched in fear.

"I-Itachi Uchiha?"

* * *

**Terrible human, I know. No one likes a cliffhanger. Good thing the next chapter is already up!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time~**

***edited as of 2013***


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Itachi immediately zoned in on her fear and used it to his advantage by stepping closer to the pink haired kunoichi.

"What do you want Uchiha?" Sakura spat, her fiery attitude over-taking her fear in an instant. Itachi smirked and stepped close enough to reach out and grab her chin. Sakura growled but refrained from doing anything. He turned her face to the side, looking disinterestedly at her tear stained cheeks.

"A team of ours has been watching you for a few days now and they have reported that your team has been treating you terribly. Is that correct?" Itachi spoke, his hand still holding her 's eyes went slightly wide at his statement.

"W-why have you been watching me?" Sakura asked quickly, yanking her face from his grip and taking a few steps back. A new smirk blossomed across his lips, and he came forward quickly, his face parallel to her own. Sakura forced her body to stay still and she stared defiantly into Itachi's impassive red eyes.

"Your are a very interesting kunoichi." Itachi whispered, his breath fanning out over the side of her face. He reached out and tucked a wayward strand of pink hair behind her ear.

Surprised, Sakura backed up and tripped over the rock behind her and fell into the river with a loud splash. Because of the strong current, she was immediately pulled under and dragged downstream.

"Hmm... troublesome kunoichi." Itachi swiftly threw off his Akatsuki cloak and dove into the rushing river.

_'Where the hell did that kunoichi go?'_ Itachi thought, his chakra pushing faster to keep himself from being overtaken by the current.

_'Ah there she is.' _

Itachi dove forward, tugging at her arm and pulled her forwards. Pumping chakra into his feet, he pulled the pinkette into his arms and lifted himself above the moving water.

_'She's so light.'_ Itachi placed her down on the grass and draped his Akatsuki cloak over shivering, unconscious body.

"Trust me kunoichi, I'll be back for that cloak." And with that, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and vanished.

Sakura regained consciousness nearly a half hour later. She opened her eyes to near complete darkness.

"W-what happened? It's nearly dark out already!" Sakura asked aloud, pushing herself to sit up. Sakura glanced down when she felt fabric slip and pool into her lap.

_**"You tripped and fell into the river and Itachi saved you. He lent you his cloak and vanished after kissing you on the forehead."**_

_'WHAT!? He kissed me? He's an S-class criminal. He should have killed me, not kissed me.'_

_**"Maybe he likes you?"**_

"HA! W-what a laugh..." Sakura stood, pulling the cloak up with her. Ignoring the Akatsuki clouds that painted the cloak, she wrapped it securely around her shivering body.

"Where am I?" Sakura wondered, her chakra reaching out to scan the surrounding area. Her eyes began adjusting to the darkness, and she glanced around at the area she was standing in.

"I-If I remember correctly I ran straight down river for about t-two miles. I'll j-just follow the river up a-about two miles and see where t-that leaves m-me." With a last glance at the area, Sakura pushed off from the ground and into the trees. Sakura pushed chakra into the soles of her feet, the chakra to help balance and keep her from slipping off a smaller branch.

Speeding up, Sakura recognized the chakra of her three teammates just up ahead. Letting out a sigh of relief, she dropped from the tree she was in and landed softly on the earth below.

"WHY HASN'T SAKURA COME BACK? IT'S BEEN HOURS!" Sakura heard Naruto shout, and she changed her path to slip unnoticed behind a thick tree.

"What B-Bastards." Sakura whispered, pulling the cloak from her body and folding it into a small bundle. Sakura snuck around to the back of their small camp and slipped the folded cloak into her tent before the boys noticed her presence.

"Where have you been Sakura?" Kakashi asked sternly, turning in time to see her enter the camp. Sakura sat down opposite to her sensei and held her hands out close to the fire. She was still slightly damp from falling in the river and everyone could plainly see that she was shivering uncontrollably.

"And why are you soaking wet?" Naruto asked, concerned. He leaned over to touch her hair only to find it semi-frozen.

"W-while I was fishing , I managed to slip and fall into the river. The c-current was s-strong but I managed t-to pull myself out and r-rested until I had enough s-strength to c-come back." Sakura lied, her eyes not coming up to meet her sensei's stern gaze. She leaned closer to the fire to try and warm up but it wasn't working. Sakura just couldn't get rid of the chill that had sunk into her bones.

"Oh I see, well you should go to bed then." Kakashi said, his eyes shifting casually back to his small book.

"Yeah, we don't need you, our prized kunoichi, to get sick." Sasuke said sarcastically. Sakura whipped her head around to glare at her once 'precious Sasuke-kun'

"Shut up Sasuke! I'll be perfectly f-fine. I just need a good, solid sleep to keep from getting sick." Sakura said, and stood up to stalk off towards her tent. Inside, she quickly got changed into her pajamas and laid her wet clothing out to dry. Curling up into her sleeping bag, Sakura pulled the folded cloak towards her self and ran her hand along the fabric.

_'So silky, yet so thick. What an impressive cloak.' _She hesitantly held it to her face and took a deep breath. _'And it smells good too...'_

Sakura was immediately reminded of the reason she came into possession of the cloak. Sakura bared her teeth in a silent growl.

_'It's definitely all their fault if I get sick.'_

With that last thought, Sakura rolled onto her side and snuggled into the cloak, using it as a makeshift pillow.

* * *

**Yay, chapter 3 :D  
**

**Hope you all enjoyed! I love writing this story. **

**Until next time~**

***updated as of 2013***


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**With Itachi...At the Akatsuki base**

"Where the hell have you been?" Kisame barked out the second Itachi walked through the door. Itachi spared his partner a look as he turned to shut the door.

" None of your business." he replied coldly. Itachi circled around the couch Kisame was lounging in and sat down on the couch opposite his partner.

Kisame bristled angrily, staring across at his partner as he leaned into the back of the couch and shut is eyes. Kisame shook his head, forgetting his anger almost instantly.

_'Stupid kid was probably out ruining someone's life.' _Kisame glanced down at his Samehada, wishing it would finish wrapping itself.

_' What was I thinking? Why did I give my cloak to that stupid kunoichi? Why did I even save her for that matter? I'm an S-class criminal and I'm off saving some stupid pink-haired kunoichi from drowning in a river.'_ While these murderous thoughts continued through Itachi's head, his partner Kisame was looking at him in pure horror.

_'He looks super pissed. I should probably get outta here before he uses me as a punching bag. Shit. I'm screwed.' _Kisame's thoughts of escape were cut short when Itachi's eyes flew open and zoned in on the blue-skinned ninja.

"What's your problem?" Itachi spat venomously. He hated being stared at. He especially hated people who acted nervous around him. Weak.

He had his sharingan on which made Kisame all the more nervous. Everyone in the Akatsuki knew that keeping the sharingan on was deteriorating his eyesight.

"Oh n-nothing." Kisame stuttered and returned to finish wrapping his Samehada. After five minutes of uncomfortable silence, Itachi spoke up.

"Have you seen Deidara? I need someone to hit." Itachi said quietly, his soft voice devoid of any human emotion.

Kisame sighed in relief. At least it wasn't him that was going to be hit.

"He just got back from his mission about an hour ago with Tobi. He said something about finally getting some peace and quiet away from that pain in the ass partner of his. He then mumbled something about the leader being a damn idiot for letting Tobi become an Akatsuki member. He trudged off after that. He probably went to his room to think up ways to get rid of Tobi." Kisame shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't any of his damned concern.

"Perfect. That means he is still tired from his mission. That makes things much easier. If you hear Deidara screaming, ignore him and continue with what your doing." Itachi said coldly, his eyes gleaming with a murderous intent. Kisame shivered and looked away. Itachi may be his partner and someone he could consider a friend, but damn was he terrifying.

_'Wonder what happened while he was gone. He isn't usually this worked up...'_

Everyone in the Akatsuki, sans Pein-sama and Kakuzu, was afraid of Itachi. It was those damned eyes. The Sharingan could scare anyone... Itachi walked out of the room leaving Kisame alone.

**Back with Sakura**

When Sakura woke up, she instantly knew she was sick. Her entire body ached, and she could just feel the pressure in her head. And by the looks of it, it could only have been about five A.M. Knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep, Sakura quietly folded everything up in her tent, got dressed in a change of clothes she had packed away, and exited the tent to go sit by the glowing fire.

Sakura could feel her sensei's presence not too far off, sitting calmly in one of the surrounding trees. Sakura plucked a few sticks from the small pile and tossed them into the fire, smiling as it burst back to life. She gazed unblinkingly into the fire, deep in thought.

_'Why would he do that? Was he trying to imply something? Are they going to try and get me to join the Akatsuki? Are they going to use me as bait so they could get their hands on Naruto?' _These thoughts and others raced through her mind. Sakura had become so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed her sensei approach the camp and wake the sleeping boys. Time sure flies when one is lost in their own thoughts. Out of nowhere, they heard Sakura sneeze.

The trio looked over at her and saw that she was still sitting there, staring at the fire with a blank look.

"Does Sakura even realize we're awake and that she had just sneezed?" Naruto asked uncertainly. He walked over, crouched down in front of Sakura and waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Sakura. Are you feeling okay?" He made a move to feel her forehead to see if she had a fever but she instantly snapped out of it. Sakura grabbed Naruto by his shirt and threw him across the clearing and into a tree.

"Don't do that!" She yelled, her voice cracking slightly. Sakura sat back down with a huff and added some more sticks to stoke up the fire so that they could make breakfast. Sakura shivered slightly. Even with the soft warmth floating from the building flames, she still felt cold.

_'I'm sick. I know it. Just great...'_

_''**Of course you are. You fell into a freezing cold river and you didn't dry off properly. It was also fairly cold last night so that didn't help much either.''**_

_'Thank you miss know it all.'_

_**"No problem. Now about that cold. You should really take it easy through the rest of the mission. Don't use up too much of your chakra. You're going to need it to heal those idiots on your team and to make yourself feel a little better.''**_

_'Yes I know. Can you PLEASE stop stating the obvious. All I have is a little cold. Nothing a little tea can't fix. I'll just make a cup of tea while I prepare breakfast for everyone.'_

"_**I want pancakes!"**_

"SHUT UP!... oops. He He. Sorry..." Sakura scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. She got up and quickly left with a pot to get some water from the river to make breakfast with. They all just stared at her retreating back.

"What the hell was that? Who says something like that aloud unless they were talking to someone?" Sasuke asked, his black eyes narrowed. He turned to look at his two teammates and saw they had similar looks of confusion etched across their features. Naruto and Kakashi just shrugged.

"No idea." Sasuke made a face and returned to his task.

When Sakura returned, Sakura pulled some instant oatmeal and dried fruit from the cooking set and set it to cook in a pot over the coals. Sakura also made up a kettle of tea, to which she added a couple herbs to help with the oncoming cold. Picking at her food, Sakura set her bowl down and stood up.

"I can't eat. I'm going to go take down my...my...ACHOO!...tent." Sakura made an annoyed face and turned from the fire. Sauntering off, Sakura pulled the things from her tent and began to take it down. The boys heard her sneeze a few more times, mumble a string of colorful curses, and then her run off into the woods somewhere. She returned a few minutes later, Shoved the tent into the bag that it stayed in, and placed it with the other two tents.

Sakura waited for the inevitable sneeze to come before pulling open the scroll and sealing away the tents.

"Sakura? Are you well enough to continue on this mission? We cannot afford to have a sick teammate compromise this mission." Kakashi's gray eye gazed harshly at her crouched form. She nodded weakly.

"I'll be fine sensei."

* * *

**I really do appreciate all the positive feedback I'm getting from all of you regarding this story.**

**It totally means everything to me to know you all like this story!**

**Thank you SOOOOOO much 3**

**Until next time~**

***updated as of 2013***


	5. Chapter 5

RECAP:

_"I can't eat. I'm going to go take down my...my...ACHOO!...tent." Sakura made an annoyed face and turned from the fire. Sauntering off, Sakura pulled the things from her tent and began to take it down. The boys heard her sneeze a few more times, mumble a string of colorful curses, and then her run off into the woods somewhere. She returned a few minutes later, Shoved the tent into the bag that it stayed in, and placed it with the other two tents. _

_Sakura waited for the sneeze to come before pulling open the scroll and sealing away the tents. _

_"Sakura? Are you well enough to continue on this mission? We cannot afford to have a sick teammate compromise this mission." Kakashi's gray eye gazed harshly at her crouched form. She nodded weakly._

_"I'll be fine sensei. "_

_'I didn't expect to get here this early. I thought it was going to take at least two days to get here. But in any case, I'm glad we're here... I'm really dizzy.'_ The team of leaf ninja strolled up to the enormous village gates. Two guards stepped up, their posture rigid and coiled for possible action.

"Who are you? You don't appear to be ninja from our village." One of the guards said, his dark brown eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Kakashi carefully pulled the mission scroll from his pocket and showed it to the guard. Reading it over, he nodded and handed it back.

"Welcome to Lightning village Konoha ninja." The guard said formally, backing up to let them pass. Team 7 passed through the gates and out unto the village. It looked a lot like Konoha but with a more rugged appearance. The buildings were tall and old- looking but in great condition.

"I'm starving! Can we go get something to eat Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto whined. Kakashi sighed and put his book away.

"Alright. Let's get a hotel room first." Naruto jumped up into the air happily and ran ahead.

"Yeah. It doesn't look like Sakura can walk much more." Sasuke said coldly. But in truth, he was right. Sakura was close to collapsing. They had been running non-stop for close to eight hours. Having a cold didn't help much either.

"Ha ha. Very funny Sasuke. Now can we get going. I'm exhausted." Sakura said quietly.

"Hai, hai. Let's go."

They found a hotel no more than ten minutes later and made their way inside. It was a small, quiet little hotel on the other side of the village, run by an older couple.

"Two rooms please." Kakashi stated, giving the older woman a charming, well, eye crinkle. The old woman smiled gently at him and handed him two keys.

"Thirty-one and thirty-two. Up the stairs and on your left. We also have a hot spring here if you would like to use it. You must be very tired from your travels. Enjoy your stay." They bowed respectfully and followed her directions up the stairs. Sakura immediately took a key from Kakashi's hand before he could say anything and opened one of the doors with it.

"I don't care who's in here with me." They heard her call from inside.

"You two take that room. I'll take this room with Sakura." Naruto and Sasuke nodded simultaneously and disappeared into the other room. Shutting the door, Kakashi stepped into the room to find Sakura face first on the floor. He sat down on his bed and took off his backpack.

"Shouldn't you lay on the bed. I'm sure it's much more comfortable." He said sarcastically. She mumbled something that he couldn't hear.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you." Groaning into the floor, she shifted her head a little.

"As much as I would like to, I can't. The muscles in my legs froze up." She stated plainly, as if talking about the weather. _'As if it wasn't obvious. Who the hell does he think I am? I wouldn't sleep on the floor.'_

He rolled his eyes and helped her up. He sat down on the bed across from her and watched as her hands glowed a soft green. She ran her hands slowly over her legs, easing her muscles in her legs.

She sighed tiredly and threw herself onto the bed. She flexed her legs a bit, happy to be able to move them. It was surprisingly quiet in the room for a few minutes until Sakura started coughing.

Kakashi glared at her for breaking the silence and then turned his glare to the door that slammed open. Naruto and Sasuke walked into the room, well more like Naruto ran in and Sasuke waltzed in.

"You two ready for some..." Sakura sneezed. The three boys looked over at her. She was halfway off the bed, face towards the floor. Naruto, being the nicer one, ran over and helped her back up into bed. He placed a hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever.

"Jeez Sakura, you're burning up! Maybe you should stay here. I'll be sure to bring you back some miso soup. That'll make you feel better." He gave her his cheesy trademark grin. Surprised, Sakura just nodded her head dumbly. Sasuke made a sound that sounded similar to a snort and turned around.

"Lets go already. We've already wasted time." Kakashi and Naruto nodded and the three exited the room. Once she knew they were far enough away, Sakura sighed loudly and buried her face into the pillows.

"What did I do to deserve this? My team hates me, everybody hates me..." Sakura felt a presence appear at the foot of her bed. Recognizing it, she shifted her head to the side a little.

"What do you want Uchiha?" She asked, her voice slightly raspy from coughing too much. Itachi smirked. She knew exactly who he was and yet didn't care.

"I've only come to retrieve my cloak." He said smoothly, stepping closer towards her bed. Sakura gave the tall ninja a dark look. Sakura slid off the bed and, with a slight stumble, made her way over to the corner of the room where she threw her bag. Slightly amused at her stumbling around like a drunk woman, Itachi followed her.

Sakura rummaged through her bag and pulled out the neatly folded Akatsuki cloak. She got up from her crouched position and handed it over to him. Itachi got a good look at her face and noticed how pale it was.

"Are you sick?" Sakura glared at him as she laid back down on the bed.

"Yes. And it's all your fault. If you hadn't made me trip over that rock, I wouldn't be half-dead right now." Itachi stared impassively at the pink haired kunoichi.

"That was in no way my fault. Anyways, you'd be fully dead if I hadn't fished you out of that river. So be grateful you're only half-dead." He said. Immediately remembering something, Sakura got up and went over to her bag again and carried it over to the bed.

"Well, I'll thank you for that. This cold sucks. The only one being nice to me is Naruto but that is only because it's in his nature to be so kind. I'm just so sick and tired of everyone calling me weak and useless. They don't know how much it hurts..." Sakura continued to rant on while furiously digging through her backpack.

"AHA! Here it is. These pills should make me feel better. It helped Sasuke when he was sick. Stupid asshole never did say thank-you. I probably saved his life." She swallowed two of the pills dry and thew the bottle back into her bag.

Itachi, who had been standing there the whole time listening to her mumble to her self, cleared his throat quietly.

"It seems as though your team doesn't think they need you. Why don't you come with me and join the Akatsuki? You will be treated with more respect there." Sakura stared at him in shock. She couldn't believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

"I-I-I..." Sakura didn't know what to say. She couldn't just forget about everything and run off and join Akatsuki. There was no way. Why would he even think she would willingly betray her home? "I can't. J-Just... Just give me a few weeks to think about it." Itachi stood there thinking before nodding his head slowly.

"I'll give you two weeks to think about it. Meet me at midnight at training ground 12 two weeks from now and give me you're answer. If you agree, then we'll leave that night. If you don't, well then, we'll have to take you by force. Until then..." He disappeared in a cloud of red smoke leaving Sakura sitting there stunned.

_'Th-they'll take me b-by force?'_

_**"I think you should say yes. Look at all the shit you've gone through. They don't deserve you. And chances are things are just going to get a hell of a lot worse."**_

_'Like I said, I'll think about it. '_

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**Thank you all for reading! **

**It's much appreciated :D**

**Until next time~**


	6. Chapter 6

So here is chapter six. It's the longest chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

Don't forget to review when you're done reading. Reviewing keeps me writing.

ENJOY!

Recap...

'_Th-they'll take me b-by force?'_

_**"You should say yes. Look at all the shit you've gone through. They don't deserve you. And chances are things are just going to get a hell of a lot worse. You'd probably be better off there then in Konoha."**_

_'Like I said, I'll think about it. '_

* * *

The boys came back twenty minutes later, thankfully in a better mood than when they left. Naruto, of course, forgot to bring her back some miso soup and was totally oblivious to the fact that she had actually wanted it.

"I'm feeling a lot better now. I suppose I'm going to head down to the hot springs they have here and then go find something to eat." She said, emphasizing the last part. She walked over to her bag, grabbed her bathing suit, shot a nasty glare towards them, and left, slamming the door behind her.

"Kakashi-sensei? Can we go to the hot springs too?" Naruto asked a few minutes later. Not even bothering to look up from his precious icha-icha, Kakashi nodded his head.

"Can't let Sakura have all the fun..." Sasuke said sarcastically. Naruto rolled his eyes and Kakashi suppressed a laugh.

"Let's go then. It's not like Sakura really has anything to show off." Kakashi said, making a gesture at his chest. The three took off towards the hot springs howling with laughter.

Once Sakura found the door to the hot spring, she changed into her bathing suit and grabbed a towel from the shelf.

"Aaaaaah... This feels good. I definitely needed this. At this rate, I'll be as good as new by morning." She said to herself. Hearing the door open, she moved further back into the steam for privacy. She sunk lower into the water, keeping her ears, nose, and eyes above the surface. Curiosity getting the better of her, she hid her chakra and cautiously moved closer to the group to listen in on their conversation. She recognized the voices as the rest of her team.

_'Great. They're talking about me again. Can't I just relax without them getting in the way?'_

_**"Guess not. You go somewhere, they go somewhere. And they chose to come here. Probably to piss you off."**_

_'Well it's working...'_

_**"Just ignore them. You're so good at that. You ignore me all the time..."**_

"Hehe." She giggled quietly out loud. She moved back towards the back of the hot spring and closed her eyes. She could vaguely hear what the boys were talking about.

"...And that wasn't the best part either! Lee was all like... GAI SENSEI! IF I CANNOT DO 600 PUSH UPS IN 3 MINUTES, THEN I MUST RUN 10 MILES IN 25 MINUTES!!... and he just keeps going. There's seriously something wrong with that kid..." She heard Naruto say. Kakashi and Sasuke chuckled.

"The way you're saying it, it does sound like there is something wrong with him. He's that kid that looks exactly like Gai right?" Kakashi said. She heard one of them swat at the water.

"Yeah. He's also known to have a huuuuuge crush on Sakura. I don't see why..." Sasuke said. Naruto snickered and Kakashi made a weird noise that sounded like a strangled laugh. Sakura's head shot up out of the water and glared at where she thought Sasuke was sitting.

_'That's not funny.'_

"No... you must be imagining things. But anyways, they'd look really good together. Green and pink go together really well." Kakashi said through horribly concealed laughter. She could hear Naruto laughing and Sasuke chuckling. Her anger started to increase and she held herself back.

_**''GREEN SOOOO DOES NOT GO WITH PINK!!''**_Inner Sakura started screaming and yelling.

_'Shut up! You're really loud...'_

"I don't know sensei. I think Lee could do better than her. She has a really bad temper and by the time she was done with him, he'd just be a pile of red and green mush..." Sasuke said as if he actually knew that was going to happen. She wouldn't REALLY beat him to a pulp...just, well, rough him up a bit.

_**"What make them think we aren't good enough for him? I'll show them."**_Inner Sakura started ranting on about how badly she wanted to kill the three and blahblahblah. Sakura finally just decided to tune her out. She continued to sit there calmly, listening to the three of them talk about her, not even thinking about the fact that she may actually be there listening to them.

_'You'd think they would have noticed the fact that this was a co-ed hot spring. And they call themselves ninja...'_Inner Sakura started to laugh.

She finally had enough when they started talking about her hair and the fact that it was pink. They thought she dyed it... She abruptly stood up and stomped over to them. To say the least, they were surprised that she was here.

"S-S-Sakura-Chan... What are y-you doing here?" Naruto said, terrified. She pointed to a sign on the wall.

"Hot springs. CO-ED! Hot springs. Obviously I would come here seeing as it's the only one here. And just so you guys know, PINK DOES NOT GO WITH GREEN!! I and Lee would make a horrible couple. I don't even like the kid. He's creepy. And first of all, YES my hair is pink! It is my natural hair color. I have no reason to dye my hair because I like the color. If you have a problem with it, you should have said it to my face instead of laughing about it behind my back!!" She had tears streaming down her face when she was finished and her chest was heaving up and down because she was yelling.

She gave them one last glare that could match the Uchiha's and she silently stormed off, calmly closing the door behind her. They looked at each other silently, thinking of what to say. Naruto was the one to break the long, somewhat awkward silence.

"Wow. I didn't think Sakura would snap like that. We didn't even say anything bad. Maybe she's PMSing or something..." Naruto said sheepishly. He was really confused. He didn't think that what they were talking about was even that bad.

"Well that was interesting..." Sasuke commented, snapping out of his thoughts. Kakashi nodded slowly, his brain taking in all that just happened.

As soon as she got into her room, she flung herself onto the bed, sobbing into her pillows. She tried to ignore inner Sakura's attempts to make her feel better.

_**"Come on Sakura. You shouldn't be put down by what those assholes say. They don't know anything about you. Stop your crying and get over it." **_Actually agreeing with her inner, Sakura sat up and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She got up out of bed and made her way over to the bag on the floor. She took out pair of baggy and extremely comfortable sweatpants and a tank top. Sakura ran into the bathroom and quickly changed into them.

As she was brushing her hair, she heard the door to the room open up and the rest of her team walk in.

_'I thought those two had their own room. Why can't the three of them just go in there?' _She put her hair up into loose ponytail, placed her headband around her neck and walked out of the bathroom. She could feel three sets of five eyes **(A/N: Kakashi only has one eye visible, remember? XD)** on her as she walked back over to her pack. She took out her wallet a light sweater, figuring it might be a little chilly out. She sat down on her bed and pulled on her black ninja sandals.

"I'm going out." She stated coldly as she turned around to face the three men.

"Why? It's getting dark out and..." Kakashi started to say but Sakura quickly cut him off.

"I need some fresh air and I haven't had dinner yet so I'm going to go out and find a place to eat. I'll be back in an hour." She brushed past them and quickly went through the door, shutting it before he could object.

_'Hmmm. I wonder if there are any good places to eat around here...'_

_**"Ask that lady over there. She might know."**_

_'For once, a good idea came out of your...mouth...' _Sakura ignored the grumbling and walked over to the old lady walking with her grocery bags.

"Do you need some help, ma'am?" The lady looked up in surprise. Sakura put on a small smile. The lady sighed happily and let Sakura take a few of her bags.

"Thank you so much.Hmmm, I don't think I know you. You must not live around here. You have a different symbol on your headband. May I know your name?" Keeping her smile in place, she nodded.

"It's Sakura." She heard the lady make a small sigh.

"What a pretty name. It suits you perfectly with the lovely hair color you have. My home is just down this street. Thank you again for helping me."

"It's no problem at all. You looked like you needed help so I felt I had to help." After finishing with that and getting directions to a place to eat, she bid goodbye and made her way back down the street towards the food stand. She wandered around for what felt like hours (which was only about twenty minutes) until she found the place. It was a simple restaurant-like stand, kinda like Ichiraku's but without the vast variety of ramen.

"What can I get for you miss?" A young lady asked her as she sat down.

"Ummm, I'll take a bowl of miso soup and a small plate of sushi." The woman bowed and walked into the back. She came back ten minutes later with Sakura's food. Sakura thanked her and began eating.

_**"Ya know, I was thinking, Ya know how you helped that little old lady with her groceries? Just imagine what the boys would have done? They probably would have laughed and walked right by her. For that matter, anyone would have. They would have just walked right by her without a glance."**_Sakura inwardly sighed. She knew her inner was right. But she didn't _want_ to believe she was right. Finishing up the rest of her soup and sushi, she put down some money and stood up.

"I'm already late enough. Might as well walk around for a little while longer, try and stay away from them as long as possible." Sakura ended up finding beautiful park with path that led all around inside of it. She decided to walk through it, despite what people always say about parks at night.

She ended up walking around the entire park in a daze, which took nearly two hours. She was too busy fighting with her inner to realize what she was doing. When she finally snapped out of it and realized where she was and what time it was, she rushed out of the park and towards the hotel where they were staying.

She finally found it and rushed up the stairs to her room. She opened it up to find no one inside. She figured they must be in the other room. So she went next door and opened it up to find the three of them talking and playing poker.

"S-sorry to interrupt. Just letting you k-know that I was back." The three of them just nodded their heads and continued with their card game.

"Try not to stay out too late again, Sakura. There are bad people wandering round at night." Kakashi said sarcastically, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Yeah, we don't need you to get kidnapped. Who else would heal us? That's the only thing you're actually useful for..." Sasuke said, coolly. Naruto nodded his head, not realizing how mean Sasuke's words actually were.

"Yeah, if you get kidnapped, we'll have no one to heal us when we go to find you. It would be a waste of time. We'd rather you just not get into trouble."

"_**Does he realize he just called you weak without actually saying the word weak? What an idiot…"**_

Pissed yet again, Sakura grabbed the nearest thing, which, unfortunately for them was a couch, and chucked it at them. She watched as it hit the three of the square and knocked them to the ground. She winced slightly at the loud bang but then quickly replaced it with a smirk. She turned around and walked out, shutting the door behind her. Sakura sped into her room and put her pajamas on. She brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. She hopped into bed and lay there; listening to her teams muffled swearing and cursing coming from the other room, no doubt picking up the mess.

_**"I wonder if they are surprised that you would do something like what you just did..." **_Inner Sakura said curiously.

_'Who knows. We'll find out...' _

About ten minutes later, she heard the door to the room open and then close with a soft click. She heard the lock slide into place and the bathroom door close. It opened minutes later and she felt Kakashi standing over her bed, staring down at her. She could feel his one eye staring straight at her. She had to suppress a shiver. Sakura kept her breathing even to make him think she was asleep.

Kakashi sighed softly and climbed into his own bed. He took off his headband and placed it on the night table before falling into a light sleep. Once she heard Kakashi's breath even out, she sighed softly and was finally able to go into a nightmarish sleep.

They're so mean. But I suppose Sakura did a good job of getting back at them by throwing a couch. lol

Well I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review for the sake of my happiness! XD

Ja ne! -fated blondie-


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay... I've been working on getting a job and finishing up all my homework for the school year...**

**Hope you enjoy this! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!! **

**

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_CHAPTER 7_

**Time skip to on the way home from finishing the mission...**

"How much longer do we have to walk until we get to Konoha? I'm staaarving..." Naruto whined loudly.

"You just ate..." Sakura said angrily, utterly annoyed by his constant whining. Naruto pouted.

"Yeah but that was three hours ago Sakura-chaaan. I'm hungry again." Sakura punched him over the head and glared at him.

"You don't have the right to call me that! Nobody does!" She yelled. Sakura stomped ahead of them and blocked out anything they were saying. She had angry tears running down her face and no matter how much she tried to stop them, they just kept coming.

"Come on Sakura ...Sakura! I said I was sorry. Don't be so angry." Naruto yelled, running up and grabbing her shoulder. She whipped around and punched him square in the face and sent him flying back into Sasuke and Kakashi. They caught him with ease but on impact they slid a few feet back.

He rubbed his jaw tenderly and glared at her. He was surprised to see tears running down her face and her chest heaving up and down.

_**"Nice..."**_

_'Shut the fuck up. I don't walk to talk to you.'_

_**"Fine. Jeez...a little pissy today..."**_ Sakura emitted a growl that made the three step back.

"What the hell was that for Sakura? I try to say sorry and I get punched in the face. What is wrong with you?"

"Yeah, what's with the hissy fit? You don't need to take your problems out on us. We didn't do anything." Sasuke said plainly. Kakashi stood there, staring emotionlessly at Sakura before lifting up his headband and calmly walking towards her. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and forced her to look at him.

Surprised, she looked up at him and saw that his Sharingan was exposed.

_'Shit, he's pissed.'_

She made the mistake of looking into his Sharingan and immediately passed out. He caught her before she hit the ground and picked her up into his arms.

"Kakashi-sensei, what did you do to her?" Naruto asked quietly, his jaw still very sore. Sasuke inwardly smirked. He knew exactly what he did.

"He used the Sharingan to knock her out. She should stay asleep for a few hours. It depends on how strong she is, which isn't that strong. Chances are she won't wake up until tomorrow." Naruto nodded his head and they continued on their way to Konoha. Sakura never woke up once on the way which made them very happy. They left her on the couch at her home and left to tell Tsunade of their mission and its success.

* * *

Tsunade was sitting at her desk doing her paperwork for once when she heard a knock at her door. Thankful for an excuse, she put her pen down and stretched a bit.

"Come in!" Tsunade yelled, sitting back down at her desk. The door opened to reveal Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto. She noticed that Sakura was not with them.

"Where is Sakura? I did send her on that mission with you. Didn't I? Because if I didn't and she's been skipping work, I swear to Kami I'll fire her as my apprentice."

"No she was…" Naruto started to say but Sasuke cut him off.

"She didn't come with us. It was just the three of us this time. Sakura is probably at home, taking advantage of her teams' absence and pretending to be with us." Sasuke said slyly. He knew she would believe him. He was an Uchiha. Kakashi and Naruto spun around to stare at him. He just smirked and winked at them.

"WHAT!" Tsunade slammed her fists on the desk and stood up. "Why would she do that? She is going to be in so much trouble when I get done with her…" She calmed down and sat back in her chair.

"I'm sorry to say but that's the case." Sasuke said. Tsunade shook her head.

"I need a drink. But back to the real reason you are here. How did the mission go? Do you have the report?" Kakashi handed her the report.

"The mission was a success. All the details are inside." He said professionally. Tsunade nodded and waved them out. As soon as they were gone, she called Shizune in.

"What do you need Tsunade-sama?"

"Bring me Sakura. She should be at her home right now." Shizune bowed.

"Right away."

Once they were out of earshot, Sasuke spoke up.

"I said that because Sakura will get into trouble. Think of it as payback for what she did." He said. Kakashi shook his head sadly.

"Great idea but the mission report mentions Sakura in it. When Tsunade finds out we had lied to her, Our asses are grass. She'll kill us..." Naruto looked at Kakashi in horror.

_'I don't want to be killed. God dammit Sasuke. Get us into trouble why don't you...'_

"Yeah but by the time she actually reads it, Sakura will have already been yelled at. It's a win win for us…" Sasuke said, amused at the thought of Sakura getting into trouble. Kakashi just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Naruto immediately felt relief wash over him. He didn't want to be in the path of a pissed Tsunade.

"If you say so. You better hope it actually works. But on a lighter note, you guys want ramen? I bet you're starving by now Naruto. "Kakashi said, effectively ending the conversation about Sakura. Naruto immediately perked up and started to run towards Ichiraku."I'll take that as a yes."

Shizune found Sakura's house and walked up the path leading to the front door. She knocked on it and waited for an answer. The door opened to reveal a very tired, dazed, and confused looking Sakura standing there.

"Wha…? Wazz goin' on? How did I get here? Who are you? Wait, you're Shizune…. Ugh…. What do you want?" Sakura mumbled out, running a hand through her tousled pink hair. Shizune just stared at her.

'What the hell happened to her?' After staring at each other for a minute, Shizune straightened up.

"Tsunade wants to see you right away." Sakura scratched her head.

"Ummm, okay. let me just get changed. My clothes are still dirty from my mission." Sakura was just about to go back into the house when Shizunes voice stopped her.

"No time. Tsunade wants to see you right away." Sakura sighed heavily. She followed Shizune through the streets and to the Hokage tower.

Naruto nudged Sasuke in the ribs. "Hey, it's Sakura." He whispered so that only him and Kakashi could hear. Sasuke and Kakashi turned and saw Sakura walking towards the tower with Shizune by her side. Sasuke smirked but then immediately replaced it with a frown.

"What is she doing up? She shouldn't be awake for another few hours..." The two shrugged.

"At least she's gonna get into trouble..." They turned around and went back to eating.

_'I wonder what she wants. And another thing, how did I end up on my couch?'_

_**"Blame Kakashi. He's the one that used his Sharingan on you and forced you into a sharingan-induced sleep.'' (**_**A/N: There is such thing right? Let me know if I'm right or not...)**

_'Damn.' _

Inside, Shizune knocked on the door to the hokage's office. Hearing Tsunade let her enter, she dragged a spaced out Sakura into the room and shut the door, leaving the two alone.

"Sakura?" No answer. ''...SAKURA!" Sakura snapped out of it and looked over at her teacher. Tsunade shook her head and motioned for her to sit.

"I'll just get straight to the point. Where have you been all week and... why are you're clothes all torn up and dirty?" Sakura sighed.

"Well I was on a mission for a week, found myself on my couch for some reason, and then was dragged here by Shizune with no time to change. We ran most of the way here with no stopping. Does that explain everything?" She looked up to see Tsunade's angry face. She raised an eyebrow. "what?"

"You're lying to me. Your team came in no less than thirty minutes ago to tell me about the mission and when I asked them about you, they said that you were not on that mission. No I'll ask again. where have you been all week?" Stunned that her team would do that, she clenched her fists.

"Again, I was on that mission with them. Whatever they said is not true. They are probably trying to get back at me for losing my temper." Tsunade slammed her fists on the table and stood up.

"God dammit Sakura. Why can't you just tell me the truth? I'm starting to think you don't care. You took advantage of their absence and stayed home from working in the hospital. I can't believe you of all people would do such a thing..."

"But I..."

"NO BUTS!" She roared. "I can't have an apprentice that isn't willing to do what they're supposed to. You leave me no choice Sakura. You are no longer my apprentice. Ino has been showing improvement. Maybe now you will learn to be more respectful. Now please leave. I have much to do." Getting up and politely bowing, she quickly hurried out, slamming the door so hard in cracked.

_'WHY?? WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO ME?' _Sakura hurried through the streets, pushing people out of her way. She didn't care if anyone saw her crying. As she was passing Ichiraku, she saw all her "friends" sitting in there having a good time.

Wiping away her tears, she gathered up all of her courage and walked in. As soon as she stepped in, everyone stopped their conversations and stared at her. She ignored it and sat down at one of the seats near the back. She ordered her ramen and looked up to see everyone still staring at her.

"What? Continue on with your conversations... Just ignore me like you always do. Oh and Ino? Congratulations. You're Tsunade's newest apprentice. She fired me and replaced me with you." She smiled at Ino and started eating the ramen placed in front of her.

"YES! I've been waiting for that!" Ino cheered and everyone clapped for her, well except for Sakura.

"How did you get fired Sakura-chan?" Lee asked. Sakura tightened her grip on her chopsticks and made them snap.

"I got fired because Tsunade thought I was lying to her about something." She said coolly, getting up to grab another set of chopsticks.

"Oh, I thought it was just because you were too weak for her and She figured Ino-chan here would be better." Sasuke said, sliding an arm around her waist. Everyone laughed. She could hear their laughter ringing in her ears. Tears threatening to fall, she slammed down some money and made her way out. Before leaving, She turned back to them with tears streaming down her pale face. She had a fake smile on her face that everyone knew was fake.

"Thank-you. You guys have helped me make my decision. I hope you all realize what you've done to me. All the years I endured pain and being put down by my so-called friends. Being betrayed and lied to everyday, pretending to like me, talking about me behind my back. You all disgust me. I hope I never have to see you assholes again. I hope that one day, when I find one of you bleeding in a clearing, close to death, begging me to help you, that I will be able to just step back and laugh at you. Promise you a great time in hell. Goodbye." And with that she disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

Everyone sat there stunned, not knowing what to do or say.

"Oh my g-god. Why d-did she just say that to us? What's wrong with her?" Ino said unsteadily. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto looked at each other guiltily.

"Is she gonna try to kill herself?" Tenten said shakily. They all looked at each other before slamming down random amounts off money and speeding off to the hokage tower.

_'I want to see her suffer, not die.' _Was what ran through most heads.

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**Well... Interesting chapter. Things are starting to progress and move along towards the whole point of this story...lol**

**Please review! They make me very happy!**

**until next time... -**


	8. Chapter 8

**OMG!! I wanna thank everyone for all their reviews! I can't believe I am at 110 reviews already. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!! **

**but on the other side... Sorry about being late... the end of the year is always busy...**

**I know everyone seems so mean in this and i'm sorry to anyone that I may have offended in anyway for making the characters seem that way... That's just the way I have them act to get sakura mad... or what ever... I realize that they are all very OOC... Especially Naruto and Tsunade because that's just not the way they would act, but again, in order for Sakura to be so mad that she would want to leave, there needs to be something there that makes her WANT to leave... hope you all understand.**

**But thanks again for all the reviews! I LOVE YOU ALL!! On with the story... lol**

_

* * *

__Recap..._

"_Thank-you. You guys have helped me make my decision. I hope you all realize what you've done to me. All the years I endured pain and being put down by my so-called friends. Being betrayed and lied to everyday, pretending to like me, talking about me behind my back. You all disgust me. I hope I never have to see you assholes again. I hope that one day, when I find one of you bleeding in a clearing, close to death, begging me to help you, that I will be able to just step back and laugh at you. Promise you a great time in hell. Goodbye." And with that she disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms._

_Everyone sat there stunned, not knowing what to do or say._

"_Oh my g-god. Why d-did she just say that to us? What's wrong with her?" Ino said unsteadily. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto looked at each other guiltily._

"_Is she gonna try to kill herself?" Ten ten said shakily. They all looked at each other before slamming down random amounts off money and speeding off to the hokage tower._

_'I want to see her suffer, not die.' Was what ran through most heads._

Sakura crashed into her home and ran up the stairs. She threw herself on to the bed and sobbed into the pillows. Suddenly, she remembered the conversation she had with Itachi in the hotel room.

**Flashback...**

_She rummaged through her bag and pulled out the Akatsuki cloak. She got up and handed it over to him. He got a good look at her face and noticed how pale it was._

_'It would explain the stumbling around and the raspy voice' "Are you sick Sakura?" She glared at him as she laid back down on the bed._

_"Yes. And it's all your fault. If you hadn't made me trip over that rock, I wouldn't be half-dead right now." He shook his head._

_"It's not my fault. Anyways, you'd be fully dead if I hadn't fished you out of that river. So be grateful you're only half-dead." He said. Immediately remembering something, she got up and went over to her bag again and carried it over to the bed._

_"Well, I'll thank you for that. This cold sucks. The only one being nice to me is Naruto and that's only because it's in his nature. I'm just so sick and tired of everyone calling me weak and useless. They don't know how much it hurts..." She continued to rant on while furiously digging through her backpack."AHA! Here it is. These pills should make me feel better. It helped Sasuke when he was sick. Stupid asshole never did say thank-you. I saved his life." She swallowed two pills and put the rest away._

_Itachi, who had been standing there the whole time, sighed. "It seems as though your team doesn't think they need you. Hmmm. Why don't you come with me and join the Akatsuki? You will be treated with more respect there." Sakura stared at him in shock. She couldn't believe the words that just came out of his mouth._

_"I-I-I..." She didn't know what to say. She couldn't just forget about everything and run off and join Akatsuki. There was no way. "I can't. J-Just... Just give me a few weeks to think about it." Itachi stood there thinking before nodding his head slowly._

_"I'll give you two weeks to think about it. Meet me at midnight at training ground 12 two weeks from now and give me you're answer. If you agree, then we'll leave that night. If you don't, well then, we'll have to take you by force. Until then..." He disappeared in a cloud of red smoke leaving Sakura sitting there stunned._

**End Flashback...**

_'I still have a week to think about it before I make my final decision. Should I really go?' _

"_**Of course you should go. Forget about these assholes who don't even care about you and go join the Akatsuki. They'll help you to become even stronger."**_

_'That's true. And maybe I'll be treated as an equal and not someone lower than dirt...'_

"_**Okay! Well, we have a week! Start packing now and act normal. That's the key. If you start acting odd, they'll think something is up..."**_

_'True...' _Getting up off her bed, Sakura went into her bathroom to take a nice hot shower. As she was showering, she didn't notice her front door slam open and fifteen people race up the stairs to her room.

"Ouch, I nicked myself." Sakura was just finishing up with her shaving and getting started on washing her hair when the door to the bathroom burst open and the curtain fly open. She did the one thing she could think of: Scream.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL OF YOU DOING HERE?? CAN'T YOU TELL I'M TAKING A SHOWER!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!! I SWEAR TO KAMI IF THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR SICK JOKES...I'LL KILL YOU!!"

"But..."

"GET OUT!!" Sakura started throwing random things like soap bottles at them to get them out. They finally gave up and went into her room to wait. As she was finishing up, Tsunade turned to them.

"I thought you said she was going to try to kill herself?" They shrugged.

"By what she said, it sounded like it." Kiba said. Sakura came out a few minutes later dressed in a pair of short shorts and a tank top. She calmly sat down on the bed and began glaring daggers at them.

"What do you guys want. You may be the hokage but I can still charge you for breaking and entering. You all better give me a good excuse not to sue your asses." She said coldly. Tsunade looked taken aback.

"Well, when you were screaming at us in Ichiraku, You said something about finally making your decision. And you hoped you'd never have to see us again. We thought you were gonna kill yourself." Ino said with false worry. She really didn't care. None of them did.

"Kill myself? Why the hell would I kill myself? I have no reason to. I wouldn't give you all that kind of satisfaction." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Then explain why you have blood running down your leg." Sasuke said.

"I was shaving. I cut myself. Do it all the time. I'm not gonna die from it. Why are you all so worried about me?" They were all silent and glancing around at each other. Tsunade finally spoke up.

"Ahem. Well, due to the circumstances and the fact that you cannot deny what you said, makes you a hazard to yourself. I'm going to have to place you under careful watch until I deem you safe. I will place your team here to watch you." Sakura stood up, furious.

"That's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong!! This is MY house and I don't want THEM in here! Having THEM here may just push me TO kill myself!!" Her fists were clenched so tight that they had turned white.

"I don't CARE if it is fair. I can't have one of my ninja killing themselves. Do you know how embarrassing that would be to me. To have one of MY ninja kills themselves?" Tsunade yelled, stepping dangerously close to Sakura.

"FINE! WHATEVER! If that will make YOU happy. If it helps YOU to save YOUR reputation then fine. Put someone to watch me. Just get out of my house." And with that Sakura walked out of the room and down the stairs. They heard her punch a wall, yell out a string of colorful cures and a door slam. Tsunade held her head in her hands.

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" They all just stayed quiet. "I want you three to get your stuff together and meet back here in two hours. If Sakura refuses to let you in, come to me." She said softly and exited the room with everybody following behind her.

Sakura listened as she heard the troop of people exit her house and shut her front door. She sighed heavily.

_'Why must this happen to me... What have I done to deserve this? What god did I anger as a child?'_

"_**I don't know. Just bear with it for now."**_

**Meanwhile, at the Akatsuki base...**

Itachi made his way down the endless hallways, his destination just around the corner. Finding the large door, he knocked on it.

"Come in." came the deep reply from behind the door. Itachi, unaffected by the air of evil coming from inside, calmly stepped in and shut the door. Itachi bowed slightly and walked up to the desk. "What do you want Itachi?"

"I may have found us a new member for Akatsuki. Her name is Haruno Sakura and she is an excellent medic-nin, Which I am sure you know we desperately need. She may even rival the sanin, Tsunade. She has inhuman strength and next to perfect chakra control." The man sat there quietly, thinking things over.

"I am not so sure about this. Would she come willingly?" He asked.

"Most likely. She has expressed great hatred for her fellow team mates. I confronted her one day about it and she said she would think about it. I am due to meet her in exactly seven days at midnight on one of the training grounds." The man nodded his head slowly.

"Perfect. I am still a little unsure about letting her join, seeing as she will be the only of two girls here. **(A/N: This is pretty much during the Shippuuden series.) **But if she is willing to join then I will accept. She will have to go through some test to prove she is loyal and worthy of being in the Akatsuki. Anything else?"

"No sir, that is it."

"Then go. Report her to me as soon as she arrives." Itachi made another small bow and started out.

"Hai, leader-sama." Itachi left the room and wandered back through the hallways until he found himself in the living room. Unfortunately for him, Tobi and Deidara were in there with Kisame. He sat down next to Kisame. He tuned out Tobi's constant bickering and focused on what Kisame was trying to say to him.

"What were you doing in Leader's part of the base?" Kisame said somewhat quietly, trying not to let the two Akatsuki airheads listen in.

"I went and talked to him about a possible new member in Akatsuki. Remember that pink-haired girl? Well I talked to her and she said she'd think about it. I am going to meet her a week from today to determine her answer." Itachi said quietly. Kisame nodded and he threw a rather large book at Tobi's head.

"OW! What was that for? Tobi is a good boy..." Deidara rolled his eyes and refrained from choking him.

"No you aren't, yeah."

"You said yeah! Tobi is a good boy." Deidara smacked him.

"Shut up." Kisame and Itachi finally gave up and left the room, not wanting to hear anymore.

**LOL! A bit of bad humor to lighten up the mood... Now things are starting to progress and we get to see a bit more of Itachi... YAY!!**

**hope you all enjoyed this chapter... I had fun writing it!**

**Love you all! PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	9. Chapter 9

Here's chapter 9! Thanks for all the reviews everyone has been sending me! I really appreciate it! Keep sending them. As for how fast the chapters will be coming out, probably not too fast. I have a full time job over the summer which will be keeping very busy. BUT! that doesn't mean i will stop writing. So just stay calm and they will come out! lol

THANKS AND ENJOY CHAPTER 9!!

Sakura knew she had no choice but to let her team stay here. She didn't want them to but if she refused, she would just get into even more trouble.

"Best get to work on cleaning up the guest bedrooms. Kakashi is going to have to deal with sleeping in mom and dad's room." She exited the room she was in and made her way back upstairs to her parents room. Inside, she walked over to the large king sized bed and laid down on it.

"They always did have the more comfortable bed." She sighed. Getting back up, she pulled all the blankets off the bed and replaced the sheets with clean ones.

_'I wonder if sensei has ever slept on satin sheets... cause these are the only sheets I have for this bed...'_**(A/N: Sakura is not rich! They were just very well off. And yes, her parents are dead. At least in my story they are...) **

Putting the blankets neatly back on the bed, she went to the other two bedrooms of the house and did the same thing. She checked all the bathrooms to make sure they were clean and usable before going downstairs to the kitchen to check for food.

"_**Ha ha. You have to feed them too? Maybe you should poison them!"**_

_'NO! That's not even funny. I may hate their guts but not enough to want to kill them. Don't say something like that. We have to act on our best behavior or else Tsunade would make them stay here longer. Then I won't have a chance to get out.'_

"_**Fine, fine. Sorry. I'll be good." **_After checking the fridge and the cupboards, Sakura realized she needed food. So she put on her sandals and raced out of the house to get some food at the market.

She finally exited the market thirty minutes later with about ten bags of food.

"Okay, this is reaaaaally heavy. I can't see anything." She shifted the bags around a bit so that she had a little gap to see through. She felt a presence behind her.

"Dammit you three, help me carry some of this!" She demanded, stopping completely. She waited for them to take some but they didn't. They just walked right past her. "You assholes!" She yelled and continued home. Finding them at her door step, She kicked them aside and opened the door with her foot.

"What the hell Sakura! Did you need to kick us?'' She didn't answer them as she walked into her kitchen and placed the bags down on the island. She didn't turn to look at them standing in the doorway of the kitchen as she put everything away.

"Don't expect me to feed any of you assholes. You didn't help me carry these bags when I asked you to so I'm not feeding you." She said, turning around to point a finger at them. Naruto pouted.

"That's not fair." She glared at him.

"Oh, it's definitely fair. Now come on, I'll show you guys to your rooms. Make sure you pay attention. You can get lost in this house." They rolled their eyes and followed Sakura out of the kitchen and up a set of stairs. Four hallways hallways later, they arrived at her parents' room.

"This is my parents' room. Sensei, you'll stay here only because this house only has two other guest bedrooms." She opened the door and led him in. She swore his eye widened a fraction. "Bathroom is through that door and you can put your clothes in that dresser right there. I just remade the bed so it's clean." Kakashi nodded.

Sakura led Naruto and Sasuke to their rooms and showed them what is what. She finally led them back downstairs.

"Kitchen is there, dining room is through there, and the family room is down the end of this hallway." She said and walked away.

"Wow. I didn't realize she had such a big house." Naruto said. Kakashi and Sasuke nodded. They each retreated to their own rooms to unpack.

"_**Ya know, you should still be nice and feed them. It's not like it'll kill you to feed them. You did buy enough food to feed an entire squad of Naruto clones."**_ Sakura laughed.

_'I did, didn't I? Oh well, I guess I have no choice but to feed them. What to make...' _Sakura sat down in her fathers' favorite chair to think.

"Why do you get the comfortable bed Sensei? It's not fair..." Naruto complained as he plopped down onto it face first.

"Well she sure as hell wasn't gonna let you sleep in here. This room probably means a lot to her." Sasuke said plainly. Naruto turned to him, his face showing confusion.

"Since when did you care?" Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms.

"I don't. Just stating the obvious." Kakashi coughed a little to get their attention.

"As I was saying, Tsunade tells me that in order to keep a suicidal person in control and safe from themselves, you need to be nice to them and try not to act differently around them. So we have to be nicer to Sakura. No talking about her pink hair, no talking about how weak she is. Sakura seems to really hate those subjects. That means you Sasuke..." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Hn." Kakashi looked at Naruto for his confirmation. Naruto nodded from underneath a pillow. Kakashi rubbed his temples.

"Okay, well if that is all, You guys can return to your rooms or whatever. Tsunade didn't say anything about not being able to leave so do whatever. Just be back before dark." They looked at him for a minute before shrugging and walking away. Kakashi sighed and sat down on his bed. He pulled out his icha-icha and sank into the pillows to read.

Finally deciding what to make, Sakura got back up out of her fathers comfortable chair and into the kitchen to make dinner. She decided on miso soup and soba noodles with chicken and pork. It was simple enough to make and she knew they would like it.

She could hear Sasuke and Naruto yelling at each other upstairs as she made dinner. Wondering what they were yelling about, she moved out into the hallway to hear.

"...can't do that! I'm sure she's already pissed off enough as it is!" She heard Naruto shout.

"Sure I can. Why would Ino get so pissed off if I was over Sakura's house? She should know I would never do anything with Sakura..." Sasuke yelled back, quieter than Naruto. Sakura frowned.

_'What a stupid fight...'**(A/N: I know... stupid... but I have a small writers block... I promise to get over it!)**_

"_**You got that right..."**_

"That doesn't matter! You should still tell her where you are! Yeah she's gonna be pissed, I know Hinata was, but still. Ino should realize this is a god damn mission. Not some stupid sleepover." Naruto said. Sakura's jaw dropped.

"_**Go Naruto! It's still a stupid fight..." **_

_'Shut up...'_

"What ever, baka. If it'll make you feel happy, I'll tell her tomorrow. Alright?" He said coolly. Naruto 'Harrumphed'.

"Fine, teme." She heard one of them walk off and a door slam off in the house. Sakura just rolled her eyes before returning to the kitchen to finish dinner. As she was stirring the soup, she began singing one of her favorite songs. Quietly of course.

**(Bring me to life by Evanescence. I Know... not Japanese... But I couldn't find anything in my vast library of Japanese songs to fit... so I just chose this...)**

how can you see into my eyes like open doors  
leading you down into my core  
where I've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
until you find it there and lead it back home..."

She put the stove on low to keep the miso soup warm while she started working on the soba noodles. She still had to chop up all the meat and vegetables, cook them in a separate pan, And add them to the 'still need to be cooked' noodles.

..."_**(Wake me up) **_-- Inner Sakura loooooves to sing...lol  
Wake me up inside  
_**(I can't wake up)**_  
Wake me up inside  
**(Save me)**  
call my name and save me from the dark  
_**(Wake me up)**_  
bid my blood to run  
_**(I can't wake up)**_  
before I come undone  
_**(Save me)**_  
save me from the nothing I've become..."

She grabbed the sake from one of her cupboards and opened it up. She poured a good amount into the meat and vegetables and let them cook in that.( I don't know how to make soba noodles... So just bear with me...)

"...now that I know what I'm without  
you can't just leave me  
breathe into me and make me real  
bring me to life

She didn't notice Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi come into the kitchen, curious about the delicious smell wafting through out the house.

_**(Wake me up)**_  
Wake me up inside  
_**(I can't wake up)**_  
Wake me up inside  
_**(Save me)**_  
call my name and save me from the dark  
_**(Wake me up)**_  
bid my blood to run  
_**(I can't wake up)**_  
before I come undone  
_**(Save me)**_  
save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life  
_**(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)**_  
Bring me to life

frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

all this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me  
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
got to open my eyes to everything  
without a thought without a voice without a soul  
don't let me die here  
there must be something more  
bring me to life..."

"You have a beautiful voice Sakura-ch... Though the song is a little weird." Naruto said, catching himself on calling her Sakura-chan. Surprised, she spun around to see her team standing by the door, staring at her. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thank you. And dinner won't be ready for another ten minutes. Sorry about yelling at you earlier. I didn't really mean it. It's just you really pissed me off when you didn't help me carry the bags. So just...wait...Hmmm." She stopped and thought about something before turning around and walking over to a cabinet.

"You guys can set the table! All the plates and bowls are in here. Silverware/chopsticks are in that drawer, cups are in that cabinet up there, and the napkins are in the drawer to the left of the silverware. Got all that?" She asked sweetly. They stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over. She watched as their shoulders visibly slumped. She smiled as they went through the cupboards and drawers, taking the things out and bringing them to the dining room.

_'Too easy.'_

Hope you enjoyed it!


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys I'm back. Sorry for the delay. This chapter took a little longer than expected due to work. But I don't think it really matters. As long as I actually get the chapters out, no one really complains...

Well I'd really like to thank each and every one of you for all of the reviews. You've all really helped me out with suggestions and have put up with all my late updates and shtuff like that.

I'd really like to thank 13th hour for the extreme help. 13th hour sent me a private message with an amazing suggestion for the story. Unfortunately, what 13th hour sent me won't show up until chapter 11. But I'd figure I'd say thanks now because they'll be reading this first. SO THANKS!!

But anyways, thanks a lot for all the reviews that have kept me motivated to finish this story.

enough of my rant... ONTO THE STORY!!

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The rest of the week went by surprisingly fast. Nothing too dramatic happened. The four of them got along pretty well. They even offered to make lunch on one of the days. She actually started to consider not leaving but then everything that they ever did to her would come back.

"_**Itachi said tonight at midnight. Are you sure you wanna leave?"**_

_'Yes. I'm done here. There's nothing left for me here...' _She stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Wrapping the towel around herself, she quickly brushed her teeth and stepped out of the shower and into her room. She changed into her usual attire and brushed out her hair.

"Sakura-chaaan!! SAKURA-CHAAAAAN!! What's for breakfast? I'm starving!!" She heard Naruto scream from just behind her door. She sighed heavily before opening the door.

"Shut up Naruto. Go make yourself something to eat. There's plenty of food in the kitchen." She said tiredly and pushed by him. She stopped in the kitchen and grabbed her keys before yelling up the stairs that she was leaving.

She went into her favorite cafe to have some peace and quiet from the boys.

"What do you want Sakura?" The waitress asked as she sat down. Sakura smiled softly up at her.

"The usual. I'd also like a cup of green tea please." Said waitress bowed and went off to the back to put in the order. Sakura took the chance to look around the small restaurant. The table right behind her just happened to have her three ex- friends. Ino, Tenten and Hinata were sitting there chatting quietly about Ino's new position as the hokage's apprentice. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the food that was just placed in front of her.

"Thank you very much." Sakura said. The waitress bowed again.

"You know the deal Sakura. Call me if you need anything." Sakura laughed.

"Hai, hai. I know." Sakura pulled apart her chopsticks and happily dove into her breakfast. Her three so called friends, now just noticing her presence, came over and sat down in front of her. Sakura immediately knew how pissed off Hinata and Ino were at her. And she knew exactly why...

"Hey Sakura. How have you been? Heard your team's been living at your house with you the past week." Ino said, trying to sound nice but failing miserably. Sakura chose to keep ignoring them and eat her breakfast.

"Y-Yeah. You've had N-Naruto- kun and Sasuke-kun all t-to yourself." Hinata said, stuttering but her voice strong. Sakura raised her head a fraction.

"So." She said through a mouthful of food.

"That's the problem! They shouldn't be living with you! You don't deserve them. And I swear to Kami if you did anything to any of them...I-I'll tell Tsunade that you tried to kill yourself again and you need to go into the hospital for 24-7 watch." Ino said, a giant smirk on her face. Sakura just sighed.

"_**Tell them you fucked them!"**_

_'Ha ha._They'd get sooo pissed.'

"_**That's the point. We're leaving tonight anyways. Might as well go out with a bang!"**_

_'Sweet. Sounds good to me. But I have a few more tricks up my sleeve before tonight.'_

"Well you better get a running start now..." Sakura said, trying to keep a straight face. All three of them stared at her, anger present on their faces. Although I still don't know why Ten ten's mad... She just is I suppose...-

"What do you m-mean by that!" Hinata said. Sakura sighed and shook her head slowly.

"Why do you think you never saw any of them all week... Just because they are your boyfriends, doesn't mean they won't find someone else to... amuse them. And might I say, I am very jealous of you two. You two have some good boyfriends..." She said through a straight face. Although it was very hard due to the fact that Ino and Hinata were now radiating of waves of anger. Ten ten just sat there in shock.

"Wh-what do you mean by that Sakura?" Ino said through gritted teeth.

"_**Too easy." **_Sakura inwardly smirked.

"Oh come on. I mean you, Yamanaka Ino, should understand... You ARE the Hokage's apprentice after all. When a girl has a bunch of guys stuck at her house for a week, you get kinda bored. But don't worry your pretty little heads off..." She said as she laid out money on the table for the waitress. She caught said womans eye and gave her a quick smile to let her know she was leaving. "...I didn't do anything they didn't want to. Ja ne!" She said cheerfully and walked away, leaving the girls alone. Inner Sakura was roaring with laughter when she exited the small cafe.

"_**I can't believe it! They actually fell for it! What idiots. Do they really think we'd seriously have sex with their boyfriends? An overactive loudmouth blond and an emo whose hair is styled to look like a chicken-butt? Yeah right!!" **_Sakura rolled her eyes as she casually strolled down the road towards her secret spot out in the woods. She found it a long time ago when she was trying to get away from the bullies that had been chasing her.

_FLASHBACK..._

_Sakura had just started at the academy. It was her second week there and already she was being bullied by the other kids because of her huge forehead and her bright bubblegum pink hair. Sakura was currently hiding behind a tree hoping they wouldn't notice her. Too bad they did._

"_HEY! There she is! She's behind that tree! Lets teach her a lesson. Apparently she didn't get the message last time." The leader of the group, Ami, yelled as she pointed directly towards where Sakura was hiding._

_'Oh no. They found me. I've gotta get out of here before they beat me up...' Sakura quickly stood up and immediately started sprinting as fast as she could in a random direction hoping they wouldn't be able to catch her. She ran for what felt like forever until she believed it was safe. _

"_Phew... I think I lost them." Sakura said out loud as she leaned up against a tree. She took a moment to look around at her surroundings. She was standing in front of a beautiful lake surrounded by soft pink Sakura blossom trees. The lake was so still and so pure it looked like glass._

"_Wow... It's so beautiful." She said in awe as she sat down. The next thing she realized was that she was very much so lost. She knew that wandering around and hoping she would find her way out would be a good way of getting herself even more lost, or worse; killed. Sighing, She closed her eyes and before she knew it, she was fast asleep. _

_She was lightly shaken awake many hours later. She wearily opened her eyes to see a man she had never seen before standing in front of her, arms crossed. To her, he looked like he was just getting back from a mission._

"_What are you doing so far out here and at such a late time. Your parents must be very worried." He said, bending down to look at her eye to eye. She looked down to the ground and mumbled something he couldn't hear. He lifted up her chin using his pointer finger. "What did you say? You know it's very rude to look down when speaking to someone." She nodded slowly._

"_T-there's this group of really m-mean bullies as school that are always making fun of me and beating me up because of my big forehead and my pink hair. I-I always tell them to please stop but they just laugh at me and continue to laugh and say bad things about me. Today, t-they found me hiding behind a tree. Instead of facing them, I ran off in a random direction hoping they wouldn't catch me. Then I just ended up here. I'm not really sure where I am right now..." She started to cry softly. The man stood up. He held out his hand to help her up. She took it looked up at him._

"_What they did isn't right but you shouldn't have just run off in a random direction. I'll have a talk with Iruka about their behavior. Okay?" He said. She nodded happily and wiped her eyes off with the back of her hand. _

"_Whats your name?" She asked in a meek voice. She noticed that he had Spiky brown hair and a long strip of white bandages running across his face.(**A/N: It's Kotetsu in case my bad description wasn't good enough...lol) **He smiled softly._

"_That's not too important. But if you really want to know, it's Kotetsu. Now what's your name?" He asked as they continued their way back to the village. She thought about it for a minute before smiling._

"_My names Sakura!" _

"_What a pretty name. It definitely suits you." She blushed and looked down at the ground. She wasn't used to such compliments. The only ones to say such nice things were Her parents and some adults that she had come to meet. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her._

_They reached the village ten minutes later._

"_Well we're here. You'd best get home. I'm sure your parents are very worried about you." She nodded._

"_Thank you very much." She said politely. She bowed and quickly ran off towards home._

**END FLASHBACK...**

Sakura smiled at that thought. Ever since that day, Kotetsu had always been her closest friend. He never lied to her or told her that she was weak. He always said positive things. She picked up a rock that was sitting next to her and threw it into the lake, breaking its glass- like picture. She quietly stared at the small ripples as they moved along across the lake. Sakura stayed there staring off into nowhere for about an hour. She suddenly jumped up with a huge smile on her face.

"_**uh-oh... What's your plan now?"**_

_'I have the perfect way to show everybody how I feel before I leave. All I need to do is find Kotetsu!' _She immediately sprinted off through the woods and towards Konoha.

* * *

Hope you all liked it. Next chapter she'll hopefully leave Konoha for good. Then I can finally get on with the relationship and the really fun stuff! Everyone will realize they messed up and try to get her back... blah blah blah... but with a twist! WOO HOO!!

YAY!! Don't forget to review on your way out... lol

LOVE YOU ALL! And i'll see you at the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

he he... I'm back! I know I've been gone forever and I'm sorry. I hope this long chapter makes up for it.

Thanks again to 13th hour for the ideas and to everyone that has reviewed!

Enjoy!

_

* * *

_

_Recap..._

_Sakura smiled at that thought. Ever since that day, Kotetsu had always been her closest friend. He never lied to her or told her that she was weak. He always said positive things. She picked up a rock that was sitting next to her and threw it into the lake, breaking its glass- like picture. She quietly stared at the small ripples as they moved along across the lake. Sakura stayed there staring off into nowhere for about an hour. She suddenly jumped up with a huge smile on her face._

"_**uh-oh... What's your plan now?"**_

_'I have the perfect way to show everybody how I feel before I leave. All I need to do is find Kotetsu!' She immediately sprinted off through the woods and towards Konoha._

- - - -

"Kotetsu? Hey! Are you in here?" Sakura yelled as she peeked her head through the door of his apartment. She was about to yell again when she heard a door from inside slam and shuffling of feet.

"Sorry. You can come in if you want. I was just talking to some guys about we were doing for tonight's party. You're going right? It starts at 9pm. Everyone's going to be there." Sakura smirked.

_'Perfect.'_

"I actually wanted to talk to you and your band about that..." She trailed off as she walked through the door and into his living room. She sat her self down on one of his couches and stared at the three other men sitting on the couch opposite her. All of them were ninjas.

The first one was Izumo. He has medium brown hair with his bangs hanging over his left eye. He didn't have his headband on which made his hair messier looking. _**(A/N: You all should know who he is, so no need to get into too much detail...)**_

The one next to him was Hideaki. She had seen him a few times while working in the hospital. He's around 20 years old and a very skilled jounin. His long dark red hair was pulled back into a low pony tail with his bangs framing his face. His dark forest green eyes are always kinda bored looking. He can be really strict and by-the-books kind of guy when he has to be. But he's usually a really nice guy.

Finally there's Koji. Blond spiky hair and gray eyes. He's a little older than Hideaki, about 23, but a captain in the ANBU. She sometimes wondered how he actually made it into ANBU. He's not exactly the smartest guy around and can be very loud at times. But despite that, he's one of the best strategists in Konoha.

"Hey guys. How's it going? I heard you guys are the band at tonight's party." She saw them all nod.

"YES WE ARE!!!" Koji yelled enthusiastically as he jumped up off the couch. "We're gonna be playing all night. I'm really excited because we get to show everyone what we can do and how good we are. I CAN'T WAIT!" He continued to yell. Hideaki rolled his eyes and pulled Koji back onto the couch. Koji pouted childishly and slumped down into the couch.

"What was it that you needed Sakura? You obviously came her to ask us something..." Hideaki said calmly.

"I came here to ask you if I could sing a couple of songs with you guys on the instruments. I have the perfect songs in mind. A place for my head and missing.**(A/N:\A place for my head is by Linkin park. Many thanks to 13****th**** hour for the idea! The other song is by Evanescence.)** Those were the two songs that I wanted to sing. Will you do it for me? I'll need some help with the singing in the first one though..." She said. She looked at them with her best puppy dog eyes. The all looked at each other, looked at her, and nodded their heads.

She jumped up and gave each one of them big hugs. Hideaki cleared his throat to grab Sakura's attention.

"Sorry." She mumbled and sat back down on the couch she was on.

"Why those songs?" Izumo said randomly from out of nowhere. They all looked around to see he came out from the kitchen with a big bowl of chips and a bottle of Saki with cups. He placed it all on the table and sat down on the couch Sakura was on. Sakura poured herself a glass of saki and leaned back into the couch. She took a sip from it and closed her eyes. She reopened them seconds later.

"No particular reason. I just really like those songs. There is one reason that i'm sure Izumo knows but I won't get into that..." Sakura trailed off and glanced over to Izumo who just nodded and gave her a small smile.

"_You're weak." "ugly." "SAKURA-CHAN! Just stay behind us. We'll protect you." "No respect..." _Sakura heard from somewhere in the back of her brain. She mentally pushed them away. She was going to be strong. She had to.

- - - - -

Sakura left a couple hours later knowing that she was going to have a lot of fun that night.

She decided to stop at home to make something to eat and to raid her closet of something to wear. She found Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi just heading out the door as she opened the front gate to her yard.

"Where are you three headed off to?" Sakura asked suspiciously as she neared them. Sasuke glared at her.

"To go look for you. Do you realize how long you've been gone. What do you think Tsunade will think when she finds out you've been out and about by yourself for four hours? She's going to be pissed." He said angrily. Sakura just pushed past them with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Don't care!" She yelled over her shoulder and disappeared into the house for some lunch.

The three found her in the kitchen making rice balls for lunch. She ignored them as they casually walked in and started going through her refrigerator and cabinets. She heard Naruto laugh excitedly and pull something out of the cabinet. Kakashi and Sasuke then muttered something about ramen and idiots.

"I'll be in my room if any of you need me. I trust you'll eat at the party right?" Sasuke put on a look of annoyance and Narutos' smile dropped for a fraction of a second.

"Y-yeah. Wow, I almost forgot about that..." Kakashi said quickly with an obviously fake smile behind his mask. Sakura just rolled her eyes and walked out.

When they were sure she was gone, Sasuke spoke up in a quiet voice.

"How did she find out about the party? I thought everyone agreed not to tell her about it." Naruto and Kakashi shrugged their shoulders.

"Who knows. Someone could have accidentally slipped up and said something about it around her. Ino's going to be pissed when she finds out Sakura's going to be there. She wants Sakura to suffer so bad for some reason. Why are we all so mean to her all the time anyway?" Naruto asked uncertainly.**(A/N: He isn't the meanest one only because of his childhood and what he had gone through...)**

"What does it matter? She's a weak bitch with no talents." Sasuke said with a wave of his hand. Naruto rolled his eyes and went back to looking for food.

- - - - - -

Upstairs, Sakura put her plate down and headed over to the closet to search for something to wear to the party. She moved to the back of it where she kept all her civilian clothes. Digging through all the clothes, she eventually found a short black mini skirt, a tight hot pink and a black tank top, and a studded belt. She moved back out of the closet, grabbing her high heel shoes along the way. She dumped it all down on the bed and picked up a rice ball and began to eat it.

"What to do until 9... Hmmm... take another shower... make sure everything is ready for tonight...get dressed...whatever..." She mumbled to her self. She decided to take another shower out of sheer boredom. She took the longest and final hot shower in her house before stepping out and wrapping a short black towel around her body. She brushed her still dripping wet hair and went back out into the bedroom.

"Hmmm. How about one final trick..." Sakura smiled deviously and picked up her plate. She searched for the boys' chakra and found them still sitting in th kitchen. She made her way downstairs and entered the kitchen, her face looking completely innocent. Naruto, who had looked up, immediately spit what he was drinking all over the table. Kakashi banged one of his fists on Narutos back to get him to stop choking. Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

Ignoring them, Sakura continued over to the sink and washed her plate. She dried it off and got up on her tippy-toes to put the dish away in the top cabinet. In doing so, the towel hitched up to just below her butt and it gave them a clear look of her cleavage.

"S-Sakura..." Naruto said nervously, trying to get her attention. Sakura turned around and put on a fake look of surprise.

"Oh! I didn't realize you guys were in here. Sorry." She said with false shock. Inner Sakura started laughing like a maniac.

"_**Girl, you sure do come up with the weirdest shit..."**_

Sakura smiled lightly and left the room, leaving the three males to themselves. Upstairs, she decided to just relax until 8pm. She ended up sitting on her bed reading through one of her medical textbooks Tsunade had given to her. As soon as 8 rolled around, she got up and took her time getting dressed. She sat in front of her mirror and brushed out her hair. She messed it up a bit to give it that sexy but playful look. For the final touch, she put on her black fingerless gloves and applied some Kohl and clear lip gloss. Standing up, she looked at herself.

"Sexy." She said quietly and smirked. She sat back down on the bed and put on her boots that went up to mid calf. Now she was ready to go. She slipped a kunai down each leg of her boots just in case. She was so used to doing it she never felt the kunai digging into her skin.

"Best head to the party early to help Izumo set up." Sakura ran downstairs and headed towards the front door. "Leaving for the party! See you guys there!" She yelled and disappeared out the door before she could get a response.

- - - - -

"SAKURA! OVER HERE!!!" She heard someone yell. She looked around to see Koji jumping up and down happily. Sakura rolled her eyes and headed over to him.

"Baka. You didn't have to be so loud..." Koji just smiled and dragged her backstage where they found Izumo and Hideaki setting up. They both turned around to greet to the new arrival.

"Hey Sakura! Glad to see you made it. You look awesome." Izumo stated and Hideaki nodded in agreement. Sakura lightly blushed.

"Thanks! You guys look great too!" Hideaki and Izumo were both wearing skinny jeans with white tee shirts. Hideaki had a black tie on that hung loosely around his neck. Koji, on the other hand, was wearing a baggy pair of jeans with a loose fitting dress shirt, revealing a white muscle shirt underneath. He too was wearing a tie.

"We go on at midnight. We're gonna be the one that closes the party. The other few bands will be playing during the party so you have time to relax and have fun." Izumo said. Sakura nodded but flinched when Hideaki, who was in the process of putting the drum set together, dropped the cymbals on the ground. He spat out a few choice words and picked it up. Sakura laughed.

"Do you guys need any help?" They all shook their heads.

"Nope. We got it." Sakura nodded and sat down, watching them set up and occasionally fight with each other for stupid reasons.

"_**Kinda reminds me of our team..."**_

_'yeah...'_

Sakura ended up having a so-so time at the party. All... or as I should say MOST of the people there were very mad to find Sakura there. Everyone purposely tried their hardest to hide it from Sakura but apparently some one had let it slip.

At 11:30ish, Sakura headed back stage with the rest of the guys to meet up with Tsunade who would be telling them what to do. Tsunade stared at Sakura strange when she announced to her that she would be performing with the band.

''You can't sing...you aren't THAT talented. And what are you wearing?! You are not some emo girl..." She said coldly. Sakura stared at Tsunade angrily. There was so much hate in her eyes that even Tsunade had to take a step back in shock. Sakura turned to the guys.

"Lets get this over with." She said quietly and walked off towards the curtain, anger still rolling off her in waves. Izumo, Hideaki, and Koji glared at Tsunade hateful and walked off after Sakura to prepare for the show.

- - - - - - -

"Where is she? It's midnight. Didn't you tell her to meet you here at midnight?" Kisame growled impatiently. Itachi remained impassive.

"Lets go." He said coldly and disappeared off, heading towards Konoha. Kisame growled angrily and reluctantly followed his partner.

"Emotionless bastard..."

- - - - - -

"For the last performance of the night, please give a warm welcome to our final band of the night!" Tsunade yelled into the microphone. Everybody clapped as The band stepped out and went to their respected places. Izumo took the microphone from Tsunade.

"Hey everyone! Hope you guys are having a good time. Tonight's gonna be a little different. We have guest that's gonna be singing a couple songs with us. She chose the songs and asked us to play them. We agreed. So please welcome our singer for tonight, Haruno Sakura!" No body clapped as she walked out on stage. Sakura, as she stepped up to take the microphone, Overheard Ino say some snide comment.

"_**HA! She's just jealous..."**_

"Lets get this over with. I got stuff to do." The band nodded and started into the first song, A place for my head.

I watch how the moon sits in the sky on a dark night  
Shining with the light from the sun  
But the sun doesn't give the light to the moon assuming,  
The moon's gonna owe it one  
It makes me think of how you act to me  
You do favors then rapidly  
You just turn around and start asking me,  
About things that you want back from me

I watch how the moon sits in the sky on a dark night  
Shining with the light from the sun  
But the sun doesn't give the light to the moon assuming,  
The moon's gonna owe it one  
It makes me think of how you act to me  
You do favors then rapidly  
You just turn around and start asking me,  
About things that you want back from me

Maybe some day I'll be just like you and  
Step on people like you do  
Run away all the people I thought I knew  
I remember back then who you were  
You used to be calm used to be strong  
Used to be generous but you should have known  
That you'd wear out your welcome  
now you see how quiet it is all alone

I'm so sick of the tension  
Sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

I'm so sick of the tension  
Sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

I wanna be in another place  
I hate when you say you don't understand  
(You'll see it's not meant to be)  
I wanna be in the energy  
Not with the enemy  
A place for my head

You try to take the best of me, go away  
You try to take the best of me, go away  
You try to take the best of me, go away  
You try to take the best of me, GO AWAY

YOU TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME  
GO AWAY, YOU TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME  
GO AWAY, YOU TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME  
GO AWAY, YOU TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME  
GO AWAY!!!!!!

I wanna be in another place  
I hate when you say you don't understand  
(You'll see it's not meant to be)  
I wanna be in the energy  
Not with the enemy  
A place for my head

I'm so sick of the tension  
Sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

I'm so sick of the tension  
Sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

Everyone stared at her in awe as she pulled the mic away from her mouth in a dramatic "song ending" fashion. Sakura smirked at the looks on their faces.

_'I wonder if that got my point across?'_

_- - - - - - - - - _

_'What is that sound? Such a beautiful but sad sounding voice."_

Itachi and Kisame headed towards the bar after finding out that she wasn't at home and that she was most likely at a party. They found the bar quickly and placed a henge on themselves before entering.

"Is that her right there?" Kisame asked quietly as they made their way towards the bar.

"Hn." They stood there and watched the rest of her performance before sneaking back stage to wait for her. They watched quietly as she hugged the three men and made her way towards the door. Itachi steeped forwards and caught her arm. She looked up at him with a cold glare.

"let go of me." He dropped his henge. She continued to stare at him coldly. "Yes. Meet me at the gates in fifteen minutes." She pulled her arm from his grasp and disappeared through the door. Kisame chuckled slightly.

"And I was hoping for some action." Itachi glanced at his partner before heading out the door.

"lets go."

- - - - -

Sakura saw her "friends" standing outside the bar talking. They stopped when they saw Sakura walking towards them. She stopped walking when they all turned to look at her. Ino was the first to speak up.

"What was that? Did you honestly think that by doing that, we'd feel sorry for you? Well I guess you're right. We do. You're too weak to do anything else so you relied on your voice, which may I add isn't that good, to get more attention. You are, and will always be the same weak, pitiful, ugly person that you've been since you were a kid. Why don't you just give up already. You'll never be better than any of us." The group behind her erupted in laughter and nodding of heads.

They stopped suddenly when they noticed that she had disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" Kiba said.

"I don...ah!" Ino shrieked as she felt someone appear behind her with a kunai to her throat.

"Weak huh? I'm not gonna say anything but I feel I should leave you all with a gift of thanks for all that you have done for me." She reappeared in front of Ino, and with a chakra ladened fist, She punched her in the face so hard that she took out four people and hit the building behind them. They were so busy staring at where Ino went that they didn't notice Sakura place an exploding tag a few feet away from them.

"Sayounara!" She called out and jumped away just in time to see the tag explode and send all of them flying. She smirked and disappeared to her room, grabbed her stuff, and disappeared again only to reappear at the gates.

"I'm guessing that was you? Nice touch." Kisame said. Sakura gave him a slight grin before walking through the gates.

_'We're finally free'_

* * *

Hope you liked it. I'll try to get Chapter 12 out as soon as I can.

Thanks again to everyone! Love you all!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright! Next chapter is here! Its a little short but hey, a new chapter is out. SO DON'T COMPLAIN!!! haha**

**I hope you guys enjoy it, it took me a while to figure out how I wanted this all to play out. Thanks for all the support everyone! It helps!!!**

**ENJOY!!!**

**

* * *

****Recap**

"_Sayonara!" She called out and jumped away just in time to see the tag explode and send all of them flying. She smirked and disappeared to her room, grabbed her stuff, and disappeared again only to reappear at the gates._

"_I'm guessing that was you? Nice touch." Kisame said. Sakura gave him a slight grin before walking through the gates. _

_'We're finally free'_

_- - - - _

The three of them walked in silence until Kisame and Itachi both stopped. Sakura looked at them, confused.

"Why have we stopped?" She took a moment to take in her surrounding. They were standing at the edge of a forest, Tall mountains towering above them.

"We're almost there. And until we know where your loyalties lie, you can't see where the base is. We have to knock you out." Kisame said without turning around. Sakura stared at his back with mild shock. She should have figured this was going to happen.

"But..." She didn't get to finish as She was struck from behind and knocked unconscious. Itachi caught her before she hit the ground and carried her bridal-style over to Kisame. Kisame grinned.

"Awww, you should have let her finish her little rant. I'm sure it would've been hilarious..."He said sarcastically.

"Hn. Lets go before leader-sama gets angry."Itachi said quietly before disappearing off towards their base, leaving Kisame all by himself. Kisame huffed.

"Fine. Lets do everything you want to do..." **(A/N. Just thought I'd get some humor in there. Kisame is more of the funny, sarcastic type of person compared to Itachi who is just quiet and scary...lol)**

- - - -

Sakura groaned into the pillow as she slowly woke up. She rolled over and sat up. Clutching her head, she fell back into the pillows.

"Stupid Uchiha...." Sakura growled before sitting up slowly and healing the back of her head. Once her head stopped throbbing, She took notice of where she was. She was sitting on a huge queen sized bed with black silk sheets and pillows. She was about to get up and take a look around the dark room when the door opened to reveal Itachi. He walked in and shut the door.

"I see you're finally awake. Leader-sama wants to see you right away." She nodded slowly and jumped off the dark bed and slightly stumbled over to Itachi. She flashed him a quick smile that she knew he couldn't see and opened the door.

"Lets get this over with, i'm starving."Itachi nodded and followed her out. He led her down a couple halls, down a flight of stairs, through some doorways, and finally the stopped in front of a rather large door with the name Pein carved into it. Taking a moment to compose herself, she then knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Enter." She opened it and let herself in. It was a rather large office with shelves of books and scrolls lining the walls. There were no widows and only two doors. There was a giant desk sitting in the back of the room and random stacks of papers and scrolls littered the surface. She couldn't see the man sitting behind the desk but she knew that he was obviously the leader due to the immense about of authority he was radiating.

'Reminds me of Tsunades' desk...' She thought sarcastically.

"Ah, you must be Haruno Sakura, apprentice of the legendary sanin, Tsunade and Student of the famous copy-ninja, Hatake Kakashi." Sakura glared at him, which probably wasn't a good idea, but she really could care less.

"Ex- apprentice, sir. I am no longer students to either of them."

"I see, that must mean that you have accepted our offer to join the Akatsuki."

"Hai, I have."

"Excellent. One more thing before you can officially join." Sakura stared at Pein with slight confusion. She had no idea what he was talking about.

'There's more to it?'

"Itachi." Pein spoke in a commanding voice. Itachi, immediately knowing what Pein wanted, walked around Sakura so that he was facing her. Faster than she could even blink, He activated his sharingan and used it to basically look through her memories to see if she was truly loyal. Seconds later, he deactivated them and caught her as she collapsed.

"what the hell was that!?" She said angrily as she pushed off from his chest and steadied herself. Itachi ignored her question.

"Shes good." Pein nodded. He then tossed her a ring.

"That will be your ring. Put it on your left little finger and keep it on at all times. **(A/N: The left little finger was where Orochimaru originally had his Akatsuki ring but because he is no longer in it and also that he also took it with them, I had the Akatsuki make a new ring just for Sakura. I'm so nice!)**

Itachi will take you to get your uniform. We have teams so I am going to pair you up with Tobi, one of our more... outgoing members. I'm sure you will be able to handle him. His last partner tried to kill him multiple times. Lets not repeat that. You will be staying in Itachi's room until I can get a room prepared for you. That's about it. If you have any questions, you can ask any of the members or you can ask me. I'm usually in here doing some form of paperwork."

Sakura bowed. "Yes, Pein-sama." Itachi also bowed before the two exited. Itachi gave her a quick tour of the base before they entered the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Itachi, do you know if- Hey! Your that chick that killed Sasori! What the fuck are you doing here?" Sakura stared at the blonde man for a moment.

"The names Haruno Sakura. I'm the newest Akatsuki member." She said bravely and headed over to the refrigerator with hopes that there would actually be edible food in there. Thankfully, it was full of food. Deidara grumbled in annoyance and returned to eating his cereal.

"Great, another fucking chick. One is bad enough." Hidan said angrily.

"Oh shut up Hidan, If it weren't for us 'chicks', this place would be a mess and you'd be eating shit for food every day." A woman's voice said sarcastically. Sakura turned only to come face to face with the only other female Akatsuki member. She had shoulder length blue hair and a beautiful white paper rose in her hair. She held out her hand to Sakura.

"Hi, I'm Konan. It's nice to see another female here. It gets really lonely here, being the only girl and all."

Sakura accepted her hand and shook it. "I'm Sakura. And here I lived all my life thinking this was an all-male organization." She said sarcastically. Konan smiled as she grabbed a pan to make her breakfast in.

"Now I won't be the only one making food for these constantly hungry males. If it weren't for me, they'd still be eating ramen every day of their life." Sakura frowned as a picture of a smiling Naruto popped up into her mind. She angrily pushed that picture away to the back of her mind. She heard someone chuckle and turned to see who it was.

"Y-You! I thought I killed you! Wait, I know I killed you. You were most definitely dead when I checked."

"You're right, I was dead. But as you can see, I am no longer dead. " Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Hmmm, and here I thought you were a ghost..." Deidara, who had been thinking about something, stood up quickly with a big grin on his face.

"Does this mean I can finally get revenge on them for destroying my arm? Do you know how hard it is to be a ninja with only one arm? It's pretty god damned hard. I know they're your team and everything but I suppose you won't care cause you left them to come here." Sakura stared at him with a look so full of hate and killing intent that everyone that was near him backed up a couple inches.

"S-she's really fucking scary." Hidan muttered quietly. Everyone who heard him nodded. A loud beep was heard and Sakura's mood changed back to cheerful as she turned around to finish her breakfast.

"Don't ever talk about those assholes when you're around me, okay? Because if you do, I won't hesitate to kill you in the worst way possible." She said sweetly. Everyone but Itachi, Sasori, and Kakuzu sweat dropped.

"W-wow, she's almost as scary as Itachi when shes mad. I think that her and Itachi are going to get along just fine. They both scare the shit out of me. I- eep..." Kisame and Deidara paled considerably as a large butchers knife flew past their faces and lodged itself into the wall.

"I can hear you." Konan laughed.

"I suggest you two shut up." They nodded, terrified and began eating again. Sakura laughed quietly to herself.

_'This won't be as bad as I thought. I think I'm going to like it here.'_

_- - - - - - - - - -_

**Back in Konoha the night before....**

Shizune was helping up a very drunk Tsunade stand up when a loud noise, followed by and explosion made her jump and let go of Tsunade. Surprisingly enough, Tsunade managed to stay standing. She seemed to sober up right quick.

"What the hell was that? Come on! We have to go check it out." Tsunade said quickly and dashed out, Shizune following close behind. Outside, they were greeted by the sight of the rookie nine, minus Sakura of course, and Gais team lying in various places on the ground. Most of them were conscious, just very much so stunned. She surveyed the area and concluded that exploding tags were the cause of it.

She noticed Ino and a few others lying unconscious in a giant hole that she supposed was once a wall. She ran over to them and healed them quickly. Ino, who had the most injuries, woke up first.

"Shishou?" Ino stuttered quietly, undoubtedly confused as to what had happened.

"What happened here? Did you see who did this?" Ino's eyes hardened at the memory.

"Yes I did. It was Sakura. Haruno Sakura did this to us." Tsunade stood up, shocked at this. She looked around, and sure enough, out of all the people on the ground, Sakura was not there.

"God dammit, I should have seen this coming. I knew something like this was going to happen. SHIZUNE!" Tsunade barked suddenly. "Once they all wake up, have them all come to my office immediately. Then find Kakashi and tell him to come to my office right away."

"Yes sir!" Shizune yelled as Tsunade turned around and disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

Everyone arrived 20 minutes later, all looking quite angry. Naruto was especially upset.

"Why would she leave like that? What did we do to her that was so bad? Do you know where she went? What..." Naruto was cut off by Tsunade shouting at him to shut up.

"I have a pretty good idea as to why she left but other than that, I have no idea where she went. Akatsuki was recently spotted around here, so we have to expect the worst. As of this moment, Haruno Sakura is now a missing nin. Kakashi, I want you and your team here tomorrow at 2 pm sharp for a mission debriefing. As for the rest of you, go home. As soon as we get word of where she is, I'm sending teams out to retrieve her." Sounds of annoyance filled the room.

"Whats the point of going after her to bring her back? She obviously doesn't want to be here and bringing her back is only going to keep holding us back." Ino said. A few nods and murmurs of agreement were heard.

"Yeah and besides, she'll be dead by morning. There's no way she'll win against the Akatsuki let alone them asking her to join. She's not going to survive out there."Sasuke said coldly, a smirk on his face. Tsunade slammed her fist on the desk creating a small crack in it.

"It doesn't matter if what you say is true or not. She is a Konoha ninja and once you go missing, you must be forced to come back and face the charges brought against you. You will go after her and you will bring her back. Is that understood?" She said firmly with no room for argument. All the ninja in the room nodded. "Good. DISMISSED!" They all either raced out they door or disappeared in a flurry of leaves or smoke.

Tsunade let out a long sigh as soon as they all left. "I'm getting to old for this..." She grabbed a bottle of sake that she'd been hiding in her drawer and took a long drink from it. Shizune shot a look at her.

"You know you shouldn't be drinking that. But, I'll let it go for now seeing as you're going to bed soon. Do you think they really got Sakura to join the Akatsuki?" Tsunade shook her head.

"I hope not. Because if she did, things are only going to get worse."

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**I hope you all liked it. I already have ideas for the next chapter so that'll be out as soon as I can get it done. I can't promise it'll be out right away but I'll try and get it done as fast as I can.**

**-fated blondie-**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello all! I am back! I won't give you any stupid excuses. I'm just a lazy person. But here is the long awaited chapter!**

**There are lots of great little presents that I have left for you all inside the chapter. Even the long awaited Itasaku moment. Nothing too big, but enough to satisfy an Itasaku fan for a little while. YAY FLUFF! woo!**

**Anyways, on to Chapter 13. ENJOY!**

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**Recap**

_Tsunade let out a long sigh as soon as they all left. "I'm getting to old for this..." She grabbed a bottle of sake that she'd been hiding in her drawer and took a long drink from it. Shizune shot a look at her._

"_You know you shouldn't be drinking that. But, I'll let it go for now seeing as you're going to bed soon. Do you think they really got Sakura to join the Akatsuki?" Tsunade shook her head._

"_I hope not. Because if she did, things are only going to get worse."_

* * *

"You guys are two hours late! I don't know how many times I have to tell you not to be late. I know you guys don't care about Sakura but..."

"Don't say that! I care about Sakura..." Naruto said defensively.

"You have a funny way of showing it. Anyways, I have an A-ranked mission for the three of you. It's a information-gathering mission. It's A-ranked because of the possibility of confrontation with the Akatsuki. There have been reports of Akatsuki walking around in rain country. This mission should last about a month. Just gather as much information on there whereabouts and what their intentions are as of this point and come directly home. From there, I'll go through all the information and we'll see what will happen. I really hope she didn't run off and join Akatsuki. You guys will leave tomorrow at 6am sharp. Any questions?" Tsunade finished, leaning back in her chair, cup of sake in hand.

"Yeah, why do you think she left?"Naruto asked. Tsunade sighed.

"Honestly? I think she left because of us. I wrongly accused her for something you guys made up just to get back at her. All of you shunned her because you thought she was weak and not worthy of your time. In a twisted kind of way, I don't blame her for leaving. Be on time tomorrow and only pack what you need for a month long mission. That will be all. Dismissed!" She waved them off with a flick of her hand. They nodded and disappeared out the door. Outside, Kakashi informed them of where to meet and again disappeared, this time in a puff of smoke.

* * *

After breakfast was over, Sakura followed Itachi back through the maze of hallways until they reached an open room filled with various cloaks,hats, and uniforms.

"Who the hell makes all these?" Sakura asked quietly to herself. What didn't surprise her was that he heard her. What did surprise her was that he replied.

"We have a tailor that makes all of this." He spoke quietly, his voice devoid of any unnecessary emotion. Sakura shook her head and strode over to where the womens' uniforms hung. The section was a great deal smaller than the men's section. There were all sorts of tops, bottoms, and accessories to choose from. Sakura inwardly laughed at this.

_'They may be S-class ninja, but they still need to dress in style.'_ From all of the clothing, she picked out 2 pairs of black baggy Capri-style cargo pants; a grey short sleeved midriff shirt that came up to just a little below her breasts; a long sleeved midriff black mesh shirt; two Akatsuki cloaks, a heavy one for the colder weather and a lighter one for the warmer weather; black mesh leggings that reached her ankles, a short black decorative kimono with long sleeves, an Akatsuki logo mini skirt, and an Akatsuki logo mini tube top. She took a hat and threw it up to the top of her pile. She'd go shopping for more clothes and weapons later.

"All set!" She said with a big grin. Itachi nodded and led her out. This time, she kept an eye on her surroundings so that she could memorize how to get around the labyrinth they call a base. They entered his room and Sakura finally got a chance to see what his room looked like.

A king sized bed sat near the back of the room. A table sat near a covered window with a small stack of books placed on it. There was also a dark mahogany dresser and a rather large, comfortable- looking black couch. There were three doors, one being the one they just entered through, one leading to a walk in closet, and the final one leading to a big bathroom.

"You can put your clothing in the dresser. I don't use it." He said without turning around. "You can go where ever you want, but don't go downstairs unless told to. I'm sure you'll find out what's down there soon enough." Sakura gave a firm nod. She watched as Itachi left the room, closing the door with a soft click.

Dumping all her clothing on the couch, she crossed the room and picked up her bag that had been placed on the floor by the bed. She took out her bathing supplies and a change of clothes, consisting of a pair of shorts and a tank top, and threw the bag onto the couch. From there, she headed to the bathroom, intent on taking a nice hot shower.

As she was showering, Kisame had entered the bedroom looking for Itachi.

"Where the hell are you Itachi?" He asked to himself as he looked into the closet. Hearing the shower running, he stormed over to the door and flung it open.

"Itachi! What the hell are you doing! You were supposed to meet me at the training grounds ten minutes ago!!" He yelled from his spot by the door. An angry pink-haired head popped out from behind the black shower curtain.

"Kisame..." She growled, anger radiating off in waves. "GET OUT!!" She roared, flinging a bottle of shampoo at his head. Shocked and probably turned on, Kisame ran out of the room, one hand covering his bleeding nose and the other holing the forming bump on his head. Sakura sighed in annoyance as she quickly finished up her shower. She dried herself off and got dressed in the clothes she brought in with her. Returning to the bedroom, She strapped on her boots and attached her weapons holster to her thigh. She brushed her still dripping hair and left the room to go explore.

On her adventure, she found all the important rooms and managed to find them all when she went back to look for them.

_'HA! I have this place down! Who's good!'_

"_**Great, now find your way out..." **_Her inner said sarcastically. Sakura sighed and hung her head.

_'Thanks. Just when I was all happy, you shot it down...'_ she heard her inner laugh before disappearing. Sakura growled. She headed down another hallway when she saw Tobi running towards her.

"Tobi sees pretty Sakura-chan!! What are you doing? Can Tobi help in some way?" Sakura smiled. How he became an Akatsuki was beyond her.

"Actually, you can help me. How the hell do I get out of here?" Tobi grabbed Sakura's hand and started dragging her down the hallway.

"Tobi will show you where it is!" He continued dragging her down the hallways until they stopped at a big door. "Here's the door to the outside! Tobi is a good boy right Sakura-chan?"

"Thank you very much Tobi. I'll see you later alright?" Sakura left through the door and took the chance to look around. About 1000 feet in front of her was where the woods started. The base was basically in the middle of nowhere. Big clearing in the middle of a giant forest.

As she was wandering around, she found Itachi, Deidara, and Kisame at one of the training fields. Itachi was just sitting there watching Kisame and Deidara spar. They all turned to look at her when she made her presence known. As soon as Kisame saw her, he growled and turned his head. Deidara immediately started laughing and Itachi smirked.

"Hahaha! I-I can't believe it, un! First day here and you're already causing trouble. So what happened,un? Kisame wouldn't tell us what happened. All he said was your name, un." Sakura shrugged as she walked over.

"All I did was throw a shampoo bottle at him. HE walked in on me while I was showering. Thought I was Itachi..." That only made Deidara laugh harder. He was laughing so hard, Sakura could only make out a few words. And for once, un was not one of them. What a miracle.

"Thought...Itachi...shampoo...Hahaha!"

"Oh shut up Deidara. It was an accident. Besides, you look really hot when you're all wet." Kisame said, grinning from ear to ear. Deidara immediately stopped laughing and glanced over at Sakura. Eye twitching, Sakura balled up her fist to control her anger.

"Wish I could say the same for you, fish face." Kisame's face turned...Purple? Ah yes, blue and red makes purple. Learn something new everyday!

"Do not call me fish face..."He growled out.

"But why not? You look like a fish. Therefore, fish face. But if you don't like that there's always blue gills or fish stick...hmmm." Sakura made a thoughtful face. Pissed, Kisame ran at her, Samehada in hand.

"Kisame, enough. Go back to your spar with Deidara. Sakura, you will be sparring with me." Itachi said, or more like commanded. Sakura let out a laugh as Kisame glared at her and returned to his battle with Deidara. She looked back over at Itachi and got into a fighting stance.

"Shall we?" And so it begun. Sakura punched the ground, sending a wave of dirt and rocks flying at Itachi. He jumped up, dodged debris and threw kunai at Sakura. It hit and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Damn, a shadow clone. Where is she?" He activated his Sharingan and glanced around.

"Behind you!" She made to kick him but before it could hit, he grabbed her leg and flung her into some trees. "Hey, that hurt." She mock cried. She threw kunai at him, purposely missing and landing behind him.

"You really need to work on your aim." He remarked coldly. She smiled.

"No I don't." He stared at her before he jumped up, missing the full explosion. The shock wave from the force of the explosion sent him flying into a tree. "Told ya!!" She yelled, making quick hand signs. "Bunshin no jutsu!" She yelled and made two perfect clones of herself. The two clones ran ahead of her while she hung back, making the necessary signs for a complex jutsu she had recently perfected. He attacked her clones and went to attack her, but ti was too late, she had already performed the genjutsu. "Jibun teki no yuujin no jutsu."

To him, it looked exactly like where they were when the genjutsu was placed on him The only difference was the fact everyone he knew was attacking him. He blocked a deadly blow from Kisame's Samehada as he threw kunai to destroy Deidara's exploding clay bird before it hit him. Kisame managed to hit Itachi in the shoulder and it started to bleed profusely.

"Tch. I told leader we didn't need some spoiled kid in the Akatsuki. I knew you weren't any good, even if you were from one of the most dangerous clans. But of course, he didn't believe me and let you join anyways." Kisame spoke coldly as he swung the Samehada at Itachi, grazing his chest as he jumped back.

"You're weak nii-san. I've always been stronger than you, no matter what you think. And now, I finally have the chance to kill you for what you've done!" Sasuke taunted, and stabbed Itachi in the stomach with his sword.

"Kai!" Itachi muttered angrily but nothing happened.

"That won't work." Sakura voice sang happily. Itachi growled angrily as he dodged another attack from Kisame's sword. His Sharingan spun wildly.

"KAI!" he shouted for the second time. This time, it actually worked. Sakura pouted.

"Guess it doesn't stand up to the power of the 'all mighty' Sharingan. I'll have to work on it some more." Itachi, who had been standing there panting slightly, came at her with an in-humane speed and slammed her into a tree. Surprised at the sudden attack, she put her hands to his chest and tried to push him off but her chakra levels were low. She could feel his hot breath tickling her neck as he leaned closer to her, his head resting on her Shoulder.

"You're good kunoichi, but you aren't that good. You still have a long way to go. One question though, how did you know what my weakness was?" He asked quietly, sending shivers down her spine.

"I-I didn't. The jutsu knows what it is. It goes into your mind and takes a persons most precious people and uses them against that person. The last person I used it against killed himself. I'm surprised you held up so well. Why did you want to know? Scared I may be better than you?" She mocked quietly. Itachi smirked and pushed harder against her body, causing her to squeak and blush. She unconsciously inhaled his masculine scent.

_'He smells good. Like sandalwood but with a hint of something else that I can't place. But it smells really good...' _His head moved closer to hers, his lips brushing against her ear.

"There's only one thing I am truly afraid of, and that was definitely not it." He murmured huskily. He pulled away from her and she frowned.

_'Aw, why did he have to move? He was so warm...wait, why am I thinking like that? I don't like him like that.'_

"**_Bullshit! How can you not like him? He's super hot, he smells really good, and he's a bad guy. All bad guys are hot!"_ **Inner Sakura held up a notebook with a big number 10 written across its page.

_'Does that make Kisame hot???' _

"**_W-well, what I meant to uh...well, ummmm... most are hot, alright? Jeez, mess up one time and you get your ass handed to you..."_**Sakura inwardly laughed at her inners antics. She pushed herself off the tree with a small groan and walked away, her sights set on a nice place to meditate before lunch.

A little ways away from the base, she found the perfect spot. It was inside the forest. Surrounded by blooming cherry blossoms was a large lake. She sat down against one of the cherry blossoms and looked out. The lake was still and had a glass-like quality to it. She could see the clouds reflections as they lazily strolled about in the sky.

"Definitely my new favorite spot." She spoke quietly, as if she was afraid to break the peace. She closed her eyes and drifted off deep into the back of her mind, but still aware of her surroundings.

"Looks like I'll have to share the spot with you." She heard a voice say. She looked up to see Sasori standing there, staring down at her still form.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I found this place and I thought it looked like a great place to meditate. If you want, I can find another place to meditate." Sasori shook his head and sat down beside her.

"No need, its big enough to share. But I agree with you, this place is beautiful. Unlike my partner, I like art that lasts." Sakura smiled softly and let her gaze wander back over to the lake.

_'Its weird. Here I am sitting next to the guy that I supposedly killed and was once a major enemy to, and now I am on the same side as him talking about how beautiful the scenery is in an S-class territory.'_

"Hey Sasori? I..."

"Don't. I already know what you're going to say. You're a ninja. It's your job to do what your Hokage tells you to do. They lead you to believe that we are the enemy when really, if you think about it, we aren't. The only thing we do is go up against a nation to take their weapons, A.K.A., the jinchuuriki. We haven't started any real wars with any nation and we kill people just like any other ninja. This of us as a illegitimate nation that wants to take over the world to stop all meaningless fighting. Sounds like any other nations to me."

"Exactly. That's why so many nations think of you as their enemies. They don't want their precious weapon taken away from them. Without it, they are vulnerable to attacks because they no longer have a jinchuuriki on their side. Now that I think about it, the only reason the council still allows for Naruto to stay in Konoha is because he is their protection. He's so loyal to that place that he, or any other person for that matter, cannot see the true intentions. Everyone knows how much the council hates Naruto. I'm glad I left that stupid place." Sasori leaned into the tree and closed his eyes.

"You are very correct. Every nation does it. Its just that some people are too dumb to see it." They sat in silence for a few moments before Sakura go up and decided it was time for some lunch. She bid goodbye to Sasori and left the beautiful spot to go eat.

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Jutsu list...

bunshin no jutsu- jutsu to make 1 or more clones of yourself. Not very strong; needed to pass the Academy

Jibun teki no yuujin no jutsu(friend of one's enemy technique)- jutsu specialized in messing up your opponent. Makes the user appear as multiple people from the enemies past that they were close to. Mimics exact appearance and voice.

**Well, I'm sorry for the delay but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Had a nice Itasaku moment that I knew you were all waiting for. Tried to make it funny but serious at the same time. If any of it was wrong, which might just be possible, let me know. Can't promise when the next chapter will be out because of my stupid laptop, but I promise I won't give up on this fan-fic and not update for like a year...**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked. I know I did! haha**

**-Fated blondie-**


	14. Chapter 14

Next chapter is finally up! Sorry about the lateness. I will never give up on this story, so don't be worried every time the next chapter is really late... haha

I hope you enjoy it!!!

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Sakura entered the nearly empty kitchen and made a bee-line for the refrigerator. She decided on a big sandwich, some chips, and an apple for her lunch. She prepared it all and sat down across from the only other occupant in the room, Kisame. She almost smiled when he looked up and gave her a half-assed glare.

"Don't know why you're so mad at me. I did nothing wrong." She said, giving him an innocent look and bit into her sandwich.

"Whatever you say, pinkie."

"What did you call me?" She demanded through a mouthful of chips. He smirked.

"I said pinkie. Got a problem?"

"Yeah, actually I do... Fish face." He snorted in his sandwich.

"Stupid."

"Fat ass."

"Whore."

"Jerk!"

"Skank!"

"Shit head!!"

"Bitch!!"

"Big...b-blueberry... thing!" Kisame stared at her, eyes wide. Suddenly, they both burst out laughing. He shook his head at the stupid insult that Sakura had quickly come up with.

"Haha! Blueberry? Is that the best you could come up with, girly? Ya know what? I like you. You're probably the only one I could actually do that to and not get totally fucked up by someone." Sakura thought about it for a moment, half eaten apple forgotten in her hand. He was right. Itachi would go all Sharingan on him**(A/N:LAWL! ...sorry. But its true right? XD)**, Deidara would either cry or blow him up, Tobi would definitely cry, Hidan would never stop, Zetsu might eat him, and the others...She wasn't quite sure.

"I see your point. Although, if I was in a bad mood, I'd probably punch you through a wall and would make sure you flew a couple hundred feet. I couldn't possibly be the only one around here who could take a joke..."

"No, you aren't the only one. It depends on the mood. Konan and Deidara are usually pretty good about jokes like that. Remember, we're all S-class criminals. We aren't exactly comedians." Sakura shrugged and resumed eating her lunch. After lunch, she decided to go down to the library to see if there were any good books to read. Sure enough, the towering shelves were all completely filled with thousands of books, all categorized by genre. Grinning a grin that could have rivaled the Cheshire cat, she took off down to the other side of the massive room.

* * *

Finding what she was looking for, her eyes widened at the amount of books there actually were on Medical and bloodline research. She took out a couple of books on Bloodlines and another couple on jutsu complications and how to heal them. Happy, she sat down in one of the super comfortable arm chairs and began reading. So absorbed in her reading, she didn't notice Pein come in and stand behind her. He cleared his throat softly and watched in mild amusement as she jumped up from the chair.

"Y-yes Pein-sama?" She said, flustered at being caught off guard.

"I see you have found the library. That's good. Now, as you may or may not know, Itachi's eyesight is rapidly deteriorating due to the prolonged use of his Sharingan. My question to you is this: As a medic, is it possible to heal his eyes so that he can see clearly again." Sakura thought hard for a few minutes. She remembered Tsunade saying something about the strain the Sharingan had on Kakashi.

"There is a way to fix it. His eyesight can never go back to the way it was, but I can heal it enough to be able to see clearly. I'll need a few weeks to gather information on the Sharingan. I'll also need to borrow Tsunade's notes on Kakashi's eye examinations. But that can wait until later. You already have plenty of books that I can work from here. Did you talk to him about this before you came to me?"

"No. He doesn't know anything about this. He doesn't even know that I know about his deteriorating eyesight. I'm upset that he didn't tell me about it, but I can understand."

"Stupid Uchiha pride..." Sakura mumbled.

"Exactly. Now, I'll give you four months to get as much as you can from what we have here. If you are still in need of those documents after that, I will allow you to go and retrieve them. Until that point, no one is to know about this. I don't need Itachi mad at me for going over his head. I can't have his bad eyesight get in the way of future missions." Sakura gave a small bow.

"I understand. Now I have a question for you, sir. Does Konoha know that I have joined Akatsuki?" Pein stared at her, a small grin on his face.

"Nope. From what I understand, Tsunade does not know you are here. She has sent a team out to search for clues as to your whereabouts. It's quite funny if you think about it." Sakura gave him a look of confusion.

"How so?" Pein shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just that you are supposedly her prized apprentice. How could she loose something that valuable? It's stupid if you ask me. I think that once she finds out you're in the wrong hands this soon, she's going to tighten security ten fold. Then it'll be virtually impossible to get in there." Sakura nodded her head.

"And it'll all be because of some 'weak' pink -haired girl." Pein laughed and exited the room.

* * *

Sakura closed the book and got up, stretching out her stiff muscles. Looking out one of the windows, she decided to go to the kitchen to see if they needed any help with making dinner.

"I think this is the way to the Kitchen..." She glanced down a hallway and noticed Itachi walking towards her. She continued to stand there as he brushed past her silently and disappeared through a doorway. Sakura cursed under her breath and headed through the doorway that Itachi went through only to find out that it was In fact the Kitchen. She saw Konan chopping some vegetables.

"Do you need some help, Konan?" Said woman turned around and sighed in relief.

"Yes I could. You know, it isn't easy being the only one who knows how to make real food. Now that you are here, things will be a little easier." Sakura nodded her head and started to work on the soba noodles.

"So, feel like going shopping tomorrow? I have a lot of things I still need to get and I figure, why not get it done before my first mission comes up." Konan popped up beside her and threw all the vegetables in a pan.

"Yes! I have been dying to go shopping but no one wants to go with me. Another plus of having you around! We'll leave tomorrow after breakfast. Would you start on the chicken please?" Sakura grabbed the thing of chicken and threw it in the pan to start cooking. She also added in some random spices and a good helping of teriyaki sauce to make it taste better.

"Itachi! Since you're just sitting there doing absolutely nothing, you can set the table." Konan grinned when she saw the look Itachi gave her.

"Whatever." Was his monotone answer. Sakura, who was busy cooking the chicken, didn't notice Itachi come up behind her.

"W-what the hell??" Sakura exclaimed as she felt someones body lean up against hers.

"You were in the way of the dishes; don't move." He whispered as he leaned closer so he could reach the top cabinet.

_'He's so close!'_

"_**He's only doing this to piss us off."**_

_'Well, it's working.' _Her eye twitched when she felt his free hand brush her ass. As soon as he moved away, she turned and sent him a nasty glare. Konan, who had seen the whole thing, laughed at the glaring pink-haired Akatsuki member.

"Calm down woman. Maybe he, ya know, likes you." She said the last part in a hushed whisper by Sakura's ear.

"Bull! He's only doing it to piss me off. Think of it as revenge for rooming in his room, courtesy of Pein-sama..." Sakura replied harshly before returning to the food, effectively cutting of the conversation. Konan shook her head and copied Sakura.

* * *

Dinner went by smoothly, or as smooth as a group of S-class Akatsuki members at the same table can go. Deidara, of course, had to tell the story of what happened between Kisame and Sakura. That ended up with a very unconscious Deidara, a fuming Sakura, and a purple-faced Kisame. Pein glared at Kisame for hitting Deidara and then made Sakura heal Deidara.

Once Sakura healed him, however, he got smacked by Sakura. Needless to say, he was quiet for the rest of dinner. When dinner was over, Sakura helped with the dishes. She bid goodnight to Konan and returned to the library. She grabbed the books she was reading and brought them to her, well Itachi's room.

_'Might as well do some note-taking. It's not like I can talk to Itachi...' _She managed to successfully find Itachi's room and entered it. Happy to see that he wasn't there, she smiled and sat down on the couch_. _

"No distractions." She said to herself. Sakura pulled out her notebook and immediately set to work. She ignored Itachi as he came in the room about an hour later. She felt him glance at her for a moment before going into the bathroom. She heard the water turn on.

"I so cannot wait for my own room. They'd better hurry up." Sakura grumbled. She eventually put her notebook away and waited for Itachi to come out. As she waited, she pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top to change into. Minutes later the door opened. She promptly stood up and made her way to it. At the sight of Itachi, she stopped and nearly dropped everything she was holding. There stood a half naked Itachi, his hair down and slightly dripping.

He smirked and ran a hand threw his hair.

"Need to use the bathroom, Sa-ku-ra?" He said quietly, emphasizing each syllable of her name. Sakura 'humphed' in annoyance and tried to push past Itachi. He leaned into the doorway, effectively blocking her way in.

"Could you please move Itachi? I need to get changed." She tried, asking nicely. She averted her eyes. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her gaping at his muscular chest. But somehow, she couldn't help it. Her eyes kept wandering to his nicely sculpted body.

_'Must...not look...Do not... like Itachi........UGH!!!!!!!!!'_

"_**..." **_Inner Sakura was just a drooling mess in the back of Sakura's mind.

_'So much for help from you... So....HOT!'_

Itachi's smirk only widened as he noticed her inner battle. He leaned in, his hair brushing up against her cheek.

"Like what you see, Sa-ku-ra?" He mumbled seductively. Sakura did the only thing she could thing of...

"Yes I do! Now get out of my way!" She yelled and pushed him out of the way. She slammed the door in his slightly stunned face and locked it. She turned to the door, mouth wide open.

_'I-I did not just say what I think I said.'_

"_**Yeah, you did. You just totally agreed with him."**_

_'Noooooooo' _Sakura groaned in frustration and threw what she was holding at the door. As she stared at the clothes, an idea popped into her head. Sakura grinned and picked her stuff up off the ground and headed towards the sink to brush her teeth. Sakura pulled on her conveniently short shorts and her tank top and looked in the mirror. The tank top showed off all the right curves and the shorts showed off her long, creamy legs. Sakura quickly but thoroughly brushed her teeth and exited the bathroom.

Itachi, who was laying on the bed, looked up when she exited. She walked over to the couch and started to put all her things away. She gasped when she felt arms wrap around her waist and toss her onto Itachi's bed.

Sakura flailed to an upright position to yell at him, but was faced with two smoldering onyx eyes, and an infamous Uchiha face glowing in porcelain beauty.

"Wh-what?" Sakura asked, inwardly cursing up a storm for stuttering like an infatuated school girl. A tint rose to her face as her mind whirled like a hurricane as she tried to figure out what was going on. His head lowered dangerously close to hers, his lips brushed against hers. Sakura tried to push him away but he swung his leg over to the other side of her body, effectively trapping her in place.

Before a sound could even come out of her mouth, Itachi's lips crashed into hers with brute passion. Sakura's eyes went wide and she tried to pull away but Itachi wouldn't let her. Sakura continued to struggle until finally, she gave in to her desires and started to kiss him back.

He smirked.

She felt his tongue glide along her lip, begging for entrance. Sakura willingly complied. She felt his tongue familiarize itself with the inside of her mouth. Sakura moaned as he moved down to her neck, lightly sucking on her pulse. She wrapped her arms around Itachi and pulled him closer. Sakura gasped as she felt Itachi move his head up and run his tongue along the shell of her ear. He nibbled lightly on it, then gently pulling the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it.

He trailed hot, wet kisses down her flushed neck and into the valley between her pert breasts. Sakura ran her hands through Itachi's damp hair and down his muscular back. Itachi moved to take her shirt off but stopped and looked down at Sakura. She stared back up at him through half-lidded eyes.

"What?" Sakura asked quietly. Itachi leaned down and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

"Not tonight. It's late and I have a mission in the morning." Without even getting up, Itachi managed to get the covers over the two of them. He rolled off her and pulled her close. She felt his hot breath fan over her Shoulder.

"You're mine." Was the last thing she heard before drifting out of consciousness.

* * *

So yeah, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I put in some yummy Itasaku moments so don't yell at me!

The real deal probably won't happen for another couple chapters. Until next time, later!


	15. Chapter 15

**Yes, I am back with the next chapter! This chapter is jam packed with lots of hilarious moments for all to enjoy!**

**So sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 15!! **

_**Recap**_

_He trailed hot, wet kisses down her flushed neck and into the valley between her pert breasts. Sakura ran her hands through Itachi's damp hair and down his muscular back. Itachi moved to take her shirt off but stopped and looked down at Sakura. She stared back up at him through half-lidded eyes._

"_What?" Sakura asked quietly. Itachi leaned down and gave her a light kiss on the lips. _

"_Not tonight. It's late and I have a mission in the morning." Without even getting up, Itachi managed to get the covers over the two of them. He rolled off her and pulled her close. She felt his hot breath fan over her Shoulder._

"_You're mine." Was the last thing she heard before drifting out of consciousness._

* * *

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she found Itachi up and dressed. He must have noticed that she was awake because he turned around to look at her. She gave him a tired smile and sat up against the pillows.

"Are you leaving now?" He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed near Sakura. He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He said quietly and then swiftly exited the room. Sakura sighed to herself and flung the covers back over her head.

"_**C'mon Sakura-chan! Time to get up!"** _Sakura mentally glared at her Inner.

_'No. This bed is waaaay too comfortable and besides, I don't have anything better to do.'_

"_**Besides going shopping with Konan? Then yes, nothing better to do..." **_The blankets flew off her head and she sat up quickly.

"Shit! I forgot about that." Sakura got out of bed and grabbed a pair of cargo pants and the long-sleeved gray shirt and headed into the bathroom for a hot shower. When she was finished, she wrapped herself off in a big black towel an proceeded to dry her hair. She put on her new clothes and exited the bathroom.

"You're up relatively late Sakura. I thought of you as an early riser." She heard Konan say as she entered the kitchen. Sakura sat down next to Deidara. She grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table and bit into it.

"Itachi kinda threw me off. I'm usually up way earlier than this."

"What did he do to make you stay up so late?" Sakura smirked as an evil idea popped into her head.

"He really didn't do much. I mean, all we did was have rough, hot sex way into the early morning hours. I'm surprised he managed to get up this morning. Would you like for me to describe what happened?" She watched with a big smile as Deidara fell off his chair, passed out and blood spewing out of his nose. Sakura heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to see Pein standing in the doorway with a slightly amused look on his face.

"Can't you go one day with out messing around with the members? And don't you think you went just a little too far?" Pein stepped over Deidara and sat down next to Konan. Sakura listened to Konan continue to laugh as she got up to go get a cup of orange juice.

"That was just too funny Sakura. I would have never thought to say something like that. I can already tell I'm really going to like you!" Pein sighed and leaned his head against her shoulder.

"Please don't encourage her..." Sakura laughed at his exasperated comment. She leaned up against the refrigerator and watched Kisame come in, obviously very tired, and then trip over Deidara's fallen body.

"What the fuck!!!" Kisame yelled and looked down at what he tripped over. As soon as he saw it was Deidara, he began laughing. Pein put his head in his hands.

"Stop encouraging her!" Konan patted his back soothingly.

"Hey pinky, you do this?" Sakura nodded. Kisame shook his head and sat down at the table. "You definitely made my morning. What did you say?"

"He asked why I woke up so late and I told him that me and Itachi had rough, hot sex way into the early morning. Then I asked him if he wanted a detailed description, seeing as he seemed really interested when he asked. That's when he passed out."He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Did the two of you really...." Sakura laughed and shook her head.

"No, of course not. I just figured it would be funny. Didn't think he would take it so seriously..."

"Well it is Deidara after all." Konan said through a mouthful of toast.

"Yes well, could you wake him up now? He has a mission to complete." Pein said, his voice holding no room for argument. With a nod, Sakura walked over and bent down so that she could wake him up. She watched as he slowly woke up and stare up at her with a slight blush staining his cheek. Or so she could see. It was hard seeing as there was dried blood caked onto the side of his face. Sakura just smiled innocently and returned to the table.

"Hey, you ready to get going? It takes about an hour to get to the village. Go get your Akatsuki cloak and your hat, and then meet me outside." Sakura nodded and got up. She rushed to the room she was sharing with Itachi and grabbed everything she needed. She put on the cloak and found Konan outside by the front entrance.

"Looks good on you. Get the hat on and lets go!" Konan thrust her fist into the air excitedly, which made her immediately think of Lee.

_'Never....again...'_ The two of them jumped into the trees and began running towards the village.

In the meantime.....

"Do we really have to do this? What's the point? She's gone, who cares... She's better off gone." Sasuke said from behind Naruto. They too were currently running towards their destination.

"Tsunade wants this done and we're the best team for this because of our connections with Sakura." Kakashi said in his usual uncaring voice.

"Yeah, and besides, once someone leaves the village, we need to get them back so they can get their fair punishment for abandoning the village." Said Naruto in an unusually serious voice. Sasuke's eyes shifted to look at Naruto. He had never seen him act so serious before. Sure, Naruto was ripping pissed when he finally got the chance to bring him home, but not serious like he was now. It must be because of who they have to go after.

"Dammit. This girl always caused us so much trouble. Now, when she finally starts to get off our backs, she goes off and creates more problems." Sasuke growled and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You sound like Shikamaru. You know, I read somewhere that a person causes problems to get attention. Do you think ugly did this to get attention?" Sai said slowly, thinking about what to say. Pissing off Sasuke was fun, but now was not the time to be pissing people off.

"For once, Sai might actually be right. Sakura is probably doing this to try and show us that she isn't weak. She wants to show us that she is capable of leaving and being out there on her own." They slowed down and jumped down, landing gracefully on the ground. They all turned to look at Naruto, who was still acting very strange. Frustrated, Naruto slammed his fist into the nearest tree. He glared at his hand, watching the cuts slowly heal.

"Can we just fucking get this done and over with. I have more important things to do than bringing someone who obviously doesn't care about us, home." He immediately jumped up and raced off. The watched him run off.

"What happened to him? When he went after Sasuke, he was hell-bent on getting you home. Now that ugly is gone, he just can't take it any more. I guess she broke his heart one too many times." Kakashi and Sasuke looked at Sai in disbelief. He just stared at them with an indifferent look. He too jumped off, following the path that Naruto took.

"That was weird... Since when did Sai become so knowing?" Kakashi and Sasuke shook their heads and followed Sai.

Back with Sakura and Konan............

Once they arrived, they readjusted their hats and entered the city. They got many frightful stares but no one really did anything. This being because Pein, their fearless Akatsuki leader, was good friends with the Raikage of the village they were in.

"C'mon, there's this really nice store I want to go to first!" Konan grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her in the direction of the store. When they entered, the man at the counter looked like he was ready to shit his pants.

"G-good morning l-l-ladies. I hope y-you fin e-e-everything you n-need." The two nodded and went off to look at clothes. They both immediately started taking clothes off the racks and taking them to the back to try them on. The would come out after putting on each outfit and would tell each other what they thought. Sakura had on a pair of comfortable green cargo pants and a tight black tank top. Konan had on the same thing except her pants were black and her shirt was dark red.

"These pants will be good for undercover missions when we pose as villagers. They're great for hiding weapons." Sakura nodded. The took the rest of the clothes they picked out and took it to the counter to pay.

"H-have a g-g-good day ladies." They replaced their hats as they exited and continued on to yet another store. This time, it was a store for ninjas. Sakura walked out of that store with Kunai, Shurdiken, and a pair of beautiful Katanas. The Blades were an onyx black that shimmered beautifully in the sun. The Sheaths Were also black but with pink cherry blossoms painted along the sides. She also bought a new pair of high heeled boots because her old one were wearing down, and some more medical supplies for both herself and the base.

"So, where to next? Want to go get some lunch?" Sakura asked as the two walked down the busy street. Sakura watched with amusement as the people parted around them, leaving a clear path for them to walk. Konan nodded and led Sakura to one of the restaurants that she visited regularly with Pein. As soon as the two entered, the place became silent. A waiter hurried up to them and bowed. He took them to a booth in the back.

"Can I-I get you ladies anything to drink?" They looked at each other and nodded. "2 large bottles of sake please!" Konan answered brightly. The two snickered quietly at the sight of the waiter scurrying out. They took their hats off and placed them on the bench.

"You know, I'm not quite used to people being scared of me. I've always been looked at as weak and worthless. Someone like that gets made fun of. Having someone actually scared of me is a nice feeling. But at the same time, they're only scared of me because of where I come from. They only think I'm strong because I'm in the Akatsuki."

"Yeah, it is a nice feeling. And believe me, you are by no means weak or worthless. I have not personally seen you fight but I have heard about you from Itachi. He tells me that you have super strength and amazing medical abilities. If Konoha couldn't recognize that, then they are stupid. They don't deserve to have someone like you if they can't see how great you actually are." Sakura gave Konan a huge smile just as the waiter came in with their sake.

"Alright, d-do you need some more time or a-are you ladies all set to order?"

"We're all set. I'd like the Yakisoba with chicken." Konan said as she put down the menu.

"And I'd like the Chicken teriyaki." Sakura also put down the menu and watched the waiter leave. Konan and Sakura chatted and drank their sake as they waited for their food to arrive. By the time their food came, they were both buzzed an giggling uncontrollably.

"Two more bottles please!" Konan announced as the man put their food down. He nodded an left quickly. They each managed to down 2 more bottles of sake by the time they finished eating their lunch. Konan tossed some money onto the table, put her hat on, and left the restaurant with Sakura slightly staggering behind her.

"I-I think we should go now. I hate being drunk and shopping. It's no fuuuuun." Sakura said as she put her hat onto her head. Konan started laughing and pointed in the direction of the base.

"Home we go then! Shit, its a long waaaay." Konan pouted. Sakura poked Konan.

"Hey... Lets pick flowers and decorate the base!"Konan brightened and nodded. So as they went, the picked flowers to bring back to base. Suddenly, Sakura dropped the stuff she was holding and got into a messy fighting stance.

"What is it? Is there a s-squirrel out t-there?" Konan said through a fit of laughter. Sakura started giggling.

"N-No. There is someone out there. T-There are four of them. Rapidly approaching." Konan nodded and tried contain her laughter. But as she stepped forward, she tripped on a root and fell. The two girls instantly started laughing hysterically.

"Well well, what do we have here?" A voice said from the trees.

"I see two drunk Akatsuki members. This should be easy..." Another voice said. Sakura helped Konan up and turned to face the group of ninja that had come out of hiding.

"Do you really think you can beat us? Just because we are totally fucked up..." At this Konan resumed her giggling. Sakura shushed her with a loose wave of her hand. "... Doesn't mean that we are any less strong. We can still kick your ass!" The two got into their fighting stances. They each had a kunai in hand.

"_**Shit. You and your drunken words are only making things worse. We need to get out of here. Do you really want them to find out its you?"**_

_'What ever. I'm going to show these guys that I'm not weak! Cha!'_

"_**But they don't even know that it's you. Just get out of here."**_

_'......'_

**_"Sakura....."_**

_'Fine....'_

"Konan. Change of plans. Lets just get out of here. I don't feel good and these guys just aren't worth our time." Konan stared at her like she had three heads.

"But I thought it was your goal to show them you weren't weak?" Sakura just shook her head.

"It is. But not right now. Lets go." She made to start running but one of the guys they encountered tackled her to the ground and held a kunai to her throat.

"You aren't going anywhere! Who the...." He trailed off as he stared in shock at the woman he tackled to the ground. As she was falling, her hat flew off and landed next to Konan. She stared into the mans shocked blue eyes. She took the opportunity to shove him off and stagger to her feet. "...Sakura?"

"Yes Naruto, my name is Sakura. Glad to know you even bothered to remember it." She gave them a drunken glare and snatched her hat from the ground.

"What the hell Sakura!? Why did you join Akatsuki? Why would you betray Konoha? Why would you betray me...?" Naruto asked, his head lowered. Sakura scoffed. The other three guys just shook their heads.

_'So much for wanting to get this done and over with. He obviously still cares for the stupid girl...' _

"Why?I left because no one appreciated me. You all treated me like shit and called me worthless. Why would I be loyal to a place who didn't care for me. At least here, They acknowledge who I really am and what I can do. So just leave. Go back to Konoha and Tell your hokage that yes, the weak and worthless Haruno Sakura joined Akatsuki."

"But.."

"Quiet Naruto. Look Sakura, I don't have the time for this. You either come with us peacefully and take your punishment like a good little girl or we take you by force and you get a much harsher punishment. Your choice." Sakura nodded to Konan who, despite being drunk, understood and got ready to run.

"I'll take the third option!!" Sakura yelled and slammed a chakra laced fist into the ground. She made a grab for all her bags and ran at full speed towards the base. By the time the debris cleared, Sakura was long gone. Naruto punched one of the untouched trees.

"God dammit! Why is she so fucking stubborn?!" Kakashi laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Calm down. We'll get her back. I still wonder, why do you care for her so much and yet show such little compassion when the rest of us blatantly made fun of her?" Naruto let out a defeated sigh.

"I don't know. I kinda just went with the crowd. I never thought she actually took any of that to heart. I knew that none of you liked her but I didn't stop you guys from saying stuff. I guess I can say I'm pretty guilty as well. I said some stuff that I shouldn't have said and now it's too late to say I'm sorry."

"Yeah it is, dobe. Now can we get going. We need to report back to the hokage and tell her what we found out. Personally, we should just fucking leave her with the Akatsuki. I don't want her to come back to the village. She has no place there and she only gets in the way."

"Yes, well we still need to need to go by the rules whether you want to or not. Rules state that anyone who goes against their village must be punished." Kakashi explained from behind a slightly pissed off Naruto. Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to walk off.

Sai, who had been quiet the entire time, just flashed one of his fake smiles and pulled out one of his books.

"You know, I read somewhere that weak people like Sakura show off to try and get people to think that they are strong. If she's so weak, how did she manage to punch a huge crater in the ground?" Naruto and Kakashi stared at Sai with weird looks on their faces.

"Sai, you really need to get laid. Those books are affecting your brain." Kakashi commented dryly, even though he secretly agreed with him. Naruto gave Sai a big smile.

"Thats because Sakura is strong! Now lets go, I'm hungry and I want to see Hinata!" Naruto said happily, totally forgetting about the who Sakura deal.

"Baka..."

Sakura and Konan returned to the base in record timing. They each went to their rooms to put their stuff down. They immediately explained what had happened to Pein.

"Alright. You were right in getting out of there. Despite your strengths, I doubt either of you would have beaten them in your current state. Go sleep off the alcohol and we'll discuss this later. Dismissed." They bowed and each went their separate ways. As soon as Sakura entered her, well, Itachi's room, she flopped down onto the bed and immediately passed out.

* * *

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed it. Seems like Naruto is a bit confused on what he wants... Feel bad for the poor trees he keeps hitting. lol**

** Stay tuned for the next chapter which will be out eventually... ^-^**

**Ja Ne!**

**-Fated blondie-**

_

* * *

_


	16. Chapter 16

**Yay!! Chapter 17 is finally out! Took me a while but It's finished. **

**I have other stories floating through my head, including a new Itasaku so keep an eye out for that. Not much else to say, except enjoy!**

_**

* * *

**_

_**Recap**_

_Sakura and Konan returned to the base in record timing. They each went to their rooms to put their stuff down. They immediately explained what had happened to Pein._

"_Alright. You were right in getting out of there. Despite your strengths, I doubt either of you would have beaten them in your current state. Go sleep off the alcohol and we'll discuss this later. Dismissed." They bowed and each went their separate ways. As soon as Sakura entered her, well, Itachi's room, she flopped down onto the bed and immediately passed out._

- - - - - - - - -

Sakura cracked an eye open and glanced over at the person who disturbed her sleep. She noticed that Itachi was staring intently at her. With a groan, Sakura sat up and faced Itachi.

"What could be so important that you had to wake me up?" She said, but then instantly regretted it. She grabbed her throbbing head and let out another groan. Itachi smirked.

"That's what happens when you go out with Konan. She likes to drink." Sakura gave him a half-hearted glare and fell back into the pillows. Itachi watched as her hand glowed a soft green. She put her hand to her forehead and smiled in relief as her headache went away.

"What time is it?" she asked quietly, glancing over at the darkened window.

"It's 3 am." Sakura gave a nod of understanding and glanced up at Itachi. She saw that his Sharingan was turned off. She smiled lightly.

"You're home pretty early then. Mission went well I presume?" She saw him nod. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took his shoes off. He threw his cloak over a chair and walked silently into the bathroom. She fell into a light sleep as Itachi showered but woke up once he exited. She snuggled closer to him when he wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid awake for a while, listening to Itachi's steady breaths.

_'I think I'm falling in love with him...'_

"_**That was fast... I can understand why. He's the first guy to actually acknowledge you for who you really are, well sort-of."**_

_'Yeah, all the other guys in Konoha just treated me like I was worthless. They didn't think I was worth their time... At least Itachi understands that I'm not just a pretty face.'_

"_**Yup. Now go to sleep! I'm tired!!" **_She rolled her eyes before following Itachi into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up again, it was early afternoon and she noticed that Itachi was still asleep.

_'Must have been a rough mission. He never sleeps in this late.'_

Sakura carefully crawled out of his grasp and out of the bed. She groaned happily as she stretched out her stiff muscles. She quietly padded over to her closet and took out her clothes for the day before entering the bathroom. As she turned on the shower and stepped in, her mind wandered back to what happened yesterday.

**-------FLASHBACK!!!-------**

"_Well well, what do we have here?" A voice said from the trees._

"_I see two drunk Akatsuki members. This should be easy..." Another voice said. Sakura helped Konan up and turned to face the group of ninja that had come out of hiding._

"_Do you really think you can beat us? Just because we are totally fucked up..." At this Konan resumed her giggling. Sakura shushed her. "... Doesn't mean that we are any less strong. We can still kick your ass!" The two got into their fighting stances. They each had a kunai in hand._

"_**Shit. You and your drunken words are only making things worse. We need to get out of here. Do you really want them to find out it's you?"**_

_'What ever. I'm going to show these guys that I'm not weak! Cha!'_

"_**But they don't even know that it's you. Just get out of here."**_

_'…Fine.'_

"_Konan. Change of plans. Lets just get out of here. I don't feel good and these guys just aren't worth our time." Konan stared at her like she had three heads._

"_But I thought it was your goal to show them you weren't weak?" Sakura just shook her head._

"_It is. But not right now. Lets go." She made to start running but one of the guys they encountered tackled her to the ground and held a kunai to her throat._

"_You aren't going anywhere! Who the...." He trailed off as he stared in shock at the woman he tackled to the ground. As she was falling, her hat flew off and landed next to Konan. She stared into the mans shocked blue eyes. She took the opportunity to shove him off and stagger to her feet. "...Sakura?"_

"_Yes Naruto, my name is Sakura. Glad to know you even bothered to remember it." She gave them a drunken glare and snatched her hat from the ground._

"_What the hell Sakura!? Why did you join Akatsuki? Why would you betray Konoha? Why would you betray me...?" Naruto asked, his head lowered. Sakura scoffed. The other three guys just shook their heads._

_'So much for wanting to get this done and over with. He obviously still cares for the stupid girl...' _

"_Why?I left because no one appreciated me. You all treated me like shit and called me worthless. Why would I be loyal to a place who didn't care for me. At least here, They acknowledge who I really am and what I can do. So just leave. Go back to Konoha and Tell your hokage that yes, the weak and worthless Haruno Sakura joined Akatsuki."_

**----------END FLASHBACK!!!---------**

_'I wonder if they actually went back to Konoha. They sure as hell didn't follow me here. They should be smart enough to know that they can't take on the entire Akatsuki. Well, maybe not...' _Sakura remembered how brash Naruto was when it came to certain situations. He just runs right into them without thinking things through.

"_**Either way, you still need to go to leader-sama and tell him what happened last night." **_Sakura massaged shampoo into her scalp and stood under the spray, letting the warm water wash away the suds.

_'Yeah, I know...He's not going to be happy about it.'_

"_**Yeah, well he's not going to be too happy when they come back looking for you and you had failed to mention that you encountered them a while back. You're better off telling him now."**_

_'Alright, once I get out of the shower I'll go and talk to him.' _

"_**You might want to get dressed before you do that!"**_

_'… Thanks smart-ass.' _Inner Sakura just grinned and disappeared. Sakura just rolled her eyes and finished up in the shower. She wrapped herself up in a big black towel and brushed out her pink hair. She quickly dried her hair and got dressed in the clothes she brought with her. She took one last look in the mirror to make sure she looked alright before exiting the bathroom. She glanced over at the bed and saw that Itachi was still sleeping. She threw her dirty laundry in a basket and quietly exited the bedroom, letting the door close with a soft click.

"Now how do I get Pein-sama's office..." She mumbled to her self. She wandered down numerous hallways before deeming herself lost. She closed her eyes and concentrated on everyone's chakra. She felt a strong presence heading down the hallway towards her. She saw that it was Konan.

"Sakura? What're you doing down here?" Konan asked. Sakura gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her head.

"I kinda got lost. I was headed towards Pein sama's office when I ended up here... where ever here is." Konan laughed at the look on the girls face. It only made Sakura pout more.

"I'll take you there, and then maybe later I'll give you a tour of the base so you can get a better understanding of where everything is." Sakura nodded gratefully and followed Konan.

"Out of curiosity, what did you need to talk to Pein about?" Sakura let out a sigh.

"I'm going to tell him about what happened last night. I feel he needs to know about it so we can keep a better eye out for Konoha ninjas." Konan stared at Sakura in shock.

"Are you serious?" Sakura prepared for the worst. "I was just coming to get you and see if you wanted to come with me to go talk to him. That is just too perfect!" Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes. Yes it is..." Sakura said, glad she didn't yelled at. They continued down the hallway in a comfortable silence. They stopped at a familiar door. Konan barged in without knocking and Sakura just stood at the door, unsure of whether to walk in or to just wait until he says she can come in. She decided on a slow shuffle. She inched her way in and waited for someone to say something.

"What the hell Konan?! Have you never heard of knocking? Sakura, you might as well finish entering now. Konan obviously has no sense of personal space..." Pein grumbled. Sakura closed the door behind her and stood next to a grinning Konan. They all stared at each other for a few minutes before he gave a frustrated sigh and glared at the ever smiling Konan.

"What do you want? You're wasting my time." Konan looked over at Sakura and nodded.

"Alright, I guess I get to be the talker. So, you know how we went out yesterday to go shopping?" She saw Pein nod.

Well, we decided to go get something to eat and things went a little out of hand from there. We had a few glasses of Sake before we left to go home. As we were heading back, we ran into some trouble. Apparently, Konoha did send out a group to come find me; and find me they did. I was able to keep my identity hidden until that Naruto-baka slammed me into the ground and knocked my hat off.

Now because of our current....state, there was no way in hell we would have been able to successfully take down four jounin ninjas. So I basically told them off and punched an enormous crater in the ground so we could get out of there. I'm pretty sure they left to go back to Konoha." Sakura finished, glancing up at Pein to see his reaction. Al he did was sit back and cross his arms over his chest.

"I see. Well, you did the right thing by getting out of there before the situation got worse. No doubt you could have beaten them, but considering the state you were in I think it would have taken a bit longer and you would have obtained more injuries than in a normal fight."

"So what exactly do you think we should do about it? There is no doubt in my mind that Tsunade is going to send more people out to come find me now that they know who I'm with and where I am." Sakura said, inwardly smiling at the fact that someone finally acknowledged her strength. Things just keep getting better and better in the Akatsuki.

"Well, we're going to have to keep a closer eye on the movement of Konoha, and we're also going to have to tighten security around here to make sure that whatever teams they send out don't find the base. As for you Sakura, you'll need to be more careful when you go outside. What you two did was very foolish. If you had encountered someone other than Konoha, you probably would not have been able to get away with that stunt." Sakura nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Now,you are dismissed. Konan, you stay. I have a mission for you." Konan gave Sakura an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, well try to get that tour in later." Sakura gave a small smile and exited the office.

"Now, off to the kitchen to get some food. I'm starved!" Sakura found her way to the Kitchen where she managed to make a sandwich around the ever excited Tobi. As usual, he was running around, tripping over air and getting in people's way. She noticed that Deidara and Hidan were also in the kitchen, staring at the couple with bemused smiles. She glared at them.

"You could come and take this... thing somewhere else." They shook their heads.

"No way! This is way more fucking amusing." Hidan and Deidara gave her a wink and left the pinkette alone with Tobi.

"Tobi will help pretty girl because Tobi is a good boy!" He yelled over and over, grabbing random things and handing them to Sakura. By the time she finished making her sandwich, the entire stock of food that resided in the cupboard was sitting on the counter.

"T-thank you Tobi. But now all of this needs to go away. I didn't really need all of this." Sakura watched as Tobi quickly put everything back where it was.

"All set! Tobi is a good boy, right??" Sakura nodded, patting Tobi on the shoulder. Sakura waved goodbye to Tobi and left the kitchen and headed back towards her room. She peeked in and noticed that Itachi wasn't in there. She entered fully and went over to her stuff so that she could grab her notebook.

"Might as well do some more research." She mumbled to herself.

"What kind of research?" A smooth voice said from the bathroom. Sakura jumped and faced said voice. It was Itachi. Sakura blushed as he came close to her and bent down so that they were eye-to-eye.

"Some medical research." She said plainly, inwardly congratulating herself for not stuttering. He leaned into her and rested his head on her shoulder so that his lips brushed her ear.

"I see. Well, don't get yourself into stuff that doesn't need to be meddled with." And with that he left, leaving a blushing Sakura standing in the room. Snapping back into reality, Sakura stalked out of the room.

_'Sorry Itachi, but this research is way over my head. I have no choice but to meddle In your personal business, whether you like it or not.'_

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. **

**Chapter 18 will be out... as soon as I finish writing it!! Until then, ja ne!**

**-fated blondie-**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yay!! New chapter!!!**

**^-^**

**So i've been reminded that I haven't done a disclaimer in forever, which is a bad thing. SO! I do not own Naruto. Kishimoto-san does. **

**There's a lemon in here, just as a.... warning? ;P**

* * *

Recap...

"_Might as well do some more research." She mumbled to herself. _

"_What kind of research?" A smooth voice said from the bathroom. Sakura jumped and faced said voice. It was Itachi. Sakura blushed as he came close to her and bent down so that they were eye-to-eye._

"_Some medical research." She said plainly, inwardly congratulating herself for not stuttering. He leaned into her and rested his head on her shoulder so that his lips brushed her ear._

"_I see. Well, don't get yourself into stuff that doesn't need to be meddled with." And with that he left, leaving a blushing Sakura standing in the room. Snapping back into reality, Sakura stalked out of the room._

_'Sorry Itachi, but this research is way over my head. I have no choice but to meddle In your personal business, whether you like it or not.'_

_

* * *

_

The next two weeks flew by. Sakura spent most of her time doing research. The only time she came out of the library was to eat, and go to the daily meeting. She barely got any sleep because she was too engrossed in her research. Sakura closed the book she was reading and let her eyes slowly close.

_'Two weeks of non-stop research, and I still have nothing! '_

"_**Well, you know what you need to do then..." **_Sakura smirked.

_'Hell yeah. We get to infiltrate Konoha and steal Tsunade's notes! This is gonna be good.' _Sakura sighed and let herself succumb to some much needed sleep.

"Where is pretty girl? Itachi, do you know where pretty girl is? It's getting late and Tobi is worried." Tobi said running around in circles. Itachi shot a glare at the worried Akatsuki member.

"Why don't you go look for her then, yeah?" An irked Deidara said. Tobi clapped his hands together and dashed out of the room. Tobi hurried down the halls and looked in all the rooms. He finally came to the library and looked in to see Sakura sprawled out on the couch with the book laying on top of her chest. Her one arm dangled off the couch while the other was placed on top of the book. Her hair was splayed out along the arm of the couch. And Tobi, being the idiot he is, ran out.

"She's dead!! Tobi found pretty girl but she's not moving! What do we do?!?!" Deidara gave Tobi one of those 'wtf' looks and Itachi just sat there. Tobi motioned for them to follow him and dashed back out. Deidara stood up and started out.

"Might as well find out what the fuck he's talking about. It's not like I have anything better to do..." Itachi also stood and followed Deidara. They found Tobi jumping up and down in front of the Library. They peered in and saw exactly what Tobi saw. Deidara turned around and hit Tobi upside the head.

"She's sleeping you masked idiot!" Deidara spat out in a hushed voice. Tobi let out a happy sigh and skipped away, singing a happy song about how the pretty girl wasn't dead. Deidara looked back and noticed Itachi standing above Sakura.

"So, what exactly has she been doing in here all this time, yeah? Every time I passed by here, She was up doing something. I don't think she's been getting any sleep..." Deidara glanced over at Itachi. He knew that Itachi wouldn't answer him but he asked anyways. Itachi walked over to Sakura and gently gathered her into his arms. He nodded towards Deidara and exited the library.

"I wonder..." Deidara shook his head and left, intent on beating the crap out of Tobi. Itachi carried Sakura to their room and placed her on the bed. He sat down at his desk and started to fill out some paper work for Pein. He heard heard her stir and looked up to see her staring at him.

"Did you..." He nodded. Itachi stood up and sat down on the side of the bed.

"What have you been researching in the library the last two weeks?" He asked quietly. Sakura sighed and looked down at her hands.

"You know I can't tell you. If you really want to know, you're going to have to take it up with Pein- sama. He's the only one who can actually tell you." Itachi was out of the room before Sakura could even blink. "Shit."

* * *

Pein looked up from his paperwork just as Itachi came through the door.

"What's up? Did you need something?"

"What has Sakura been researching? I know it has something to do with me." Pein interlaced his fingers and placed his chin on top.

"What makes you say that?" Itachi crossed his arms and glared at Pein.

"The book she was reading." Pein smirked.

"Well, I guess there's no use in hiding it from you any longer. Not too long ago, Kisame came to me saying that he noticed something was wrong. He told me that you seemed to have difficulties seeing. Of course he knew you weren't going to say anything so he just decided to keep observing you. He didn't notice much only because you hid it so well. The only thing the he noticed was that you never turned your sharingan off. Usually you have t off when you aren't using it, am I right?" He took Itachi's slight glare as a yes.

"Now, I can't have a blind ninja going out there on missions. So here's what's going to happen. Sakura's going to heal your eyes. I wanted to keep it from you so that you didn't get angry and screw everything up." Itachi eyed Pein for a moment before exiting the room, his cloak billowing behind him. Pein placed his head in his hands and let out a long sigh.

Itachi headed straight for his room. When he entered, he saw Sakura stare up at him with a surprised expression. Itachi closed the door and sat down on the bed next down to Sakura.

"I'm guessing he told you?" She said lightly, watching as he took off his cloak and tossed on the couch. He nodded.

"Why?" Sakura stared at him for a moment, confused about what her was asking. But then it clicked.

"Well, it was orders." Sakura said, shifting her eyes away from him. He grabbed her chin and turned her head back so she was looking at him again.

"That wasn't the only reason, was it?" Sakura looked down.

"No. I did it for another reason. To prove to you all, and possibly to Konoha, that I'm on your side. That I don't want you to think that I still have some ties with Konoha. By healing you eyes, It will cut all ties with Konoha." Sakura looked up to see his staring at her with a slight smirk on his handsome face. He leaned in until their lips were nearly touching.

"I wonder..." He closed the space between their lips. He inwardly smirked when she immediately responded. Sakura threaded her hands into Itachi's hair and pulled him backwards and they fell onto the bed. She moaned into his mouth and he took that opportunity and slipped his tongue into her mouth. Sakura battled Itachi for Dominance, tasting every inch of his mouth. Itachi broke this kiss long enough to slide Sakura's tank top off and throw it to the floor. Sakura all but ripped Itachi's shirt off in response.

Itachi took one nipple into his mouth while he let his hand play around with the other. Sakura moaned and dug her nails into his back. He switched, earning another low moan from Sakura. He trailed kisses down her toned stomach, and then back up to her neck. He sucked on her pulse, making Sakura's eyes close.

She felt his hands glide down her sides and swiftly pull her shorts and underwear off. She felt his mouth leave her neck and opened her eyes to see what was wrong. She blushed heavily when she noticed where he was looking. He meet her eyes with a look of pure lust. She nearly screamed when she felt his tongue glide along her outer lips.

"Delicious." He murmured. He inserted a finger into her and slowly started pumping it in and out.

"O-oh god! Faster!" She moaned out, gripping the sheets. He inserted a second finger and pumped faster. He kissed her, swallowing every moan until she came. She let out a breathy moan. Itachi licked her cum off his fingers and kissed Sakura hard on the mouth, letting her taste her own juices. "Well, It's my turn now." Sakura skillfully flipped them over so that she was the one on top. She slid his pants off, leaving him in his boxers. She could already see the erection. Smiling, she slipped his boxers off and tried not to gape at how big he was.

Sakura started off slow. She let her tongue slide up and down his shaft before taking it all into her mouth. Itachi threaded his fingers into her hair and restrained himself from pushing on her head. Sakura bobbed her head up and down, sucking and licking at all parts on his dick. She let out a throaty moan as he played with her nub. He rubbed her clit faster and she let out another moan.

Sakura hummed, earning a growl from Itachi. She inwardly smirked and started to suck faster, humming as she went. He gripped her hair tighter. Sakura knew he was going to cum soon, so she went faster.

"Sakura!" He ground out as he came in her mouth. She quickly drank it all up. She crawled up to him and let him kiss her. There was so much passion in the kiss that Sakura didn't even notice the fact that Itachi had flipped them so that he was once again on top. She ran her hands down his back, letting them rest on the middle of his back. She glanced up at Itachi as they broke the kiss. He had his head bent down to look at her so his long black hair created a curtain around their heads.

"Are you sure?" Sakura nodded and pulled his head down into a kiss.

"I'm sure. We've come this far. Might as well finish it." Itachi said nothing as he positioned himself at her entrance. He entered with one swift push and started at a slow pace. Sakura raked her nails down his back as he quickened his pace.

"Dear Kami! Faster!" She bucked her hips to meet Itachi with every thrust. "Fasterrrrrrr!" Sakura whined. Itachi growled. Sakura just smiled. She loved getting him riled up. Even better during sex.

"Shut up Sakura." Sakura stuck her tongue out. She was about to put it back in her mouth but Itachi grabbed it with his teeth and pulled her into a bruising kiss. He swallowed a moan from her when he thrust in deeper. He continued at the hard pace until they both came. Sakura's head dug into the pillow and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the amazing feeling to ebb away so she could see straight. Itachi collapsed onto Sakura and rested his head on her chest.

"That was..."

"Amazing..." Itachi breathed out. They both waited until their breathing returned to normal before moving around.

"You're so much different when you're not out in the public." Itachi raised an eyebrow at her.

"I guess so. Why, is it a bad thing?" Sakura shook her head.

"No, I like it. You're all bad ass and silent when you're out with everyone else but when you're here with me you're much more caring and... not emotionless? I guess that would be the word for it." Itachi let out a snort which surprised Sakura.

"Bad ass huh? And the word you're looking for is expressive. You need to read more than just Med books..." Sakura just rolled her eyes.

She curled up along Itachi's side and closed her eyes.

"goodnight Itachi. I love you." Itachi glanced over at her in shock. She loved him? Could He really love another person? Yes.

"Goodnight Sakura. I... Love you too." He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. He missed the smile that formed on Sakura's lips.

* * *

**Awwwwwwwwwwww, so cute!!!! And there you have it, the long awaited lemon!!**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! **

**Until next time,**

**-fated blondie-**


	18. Chapter 18

**Heeeeey, Next chapter is finally up. I'm sorry to all who thought that this will be the mission, but it'll be the next chapter. **

**I wanted to get a bunch of ideas out first, and I suppose make this a filler chapter. This story only has a few more chapters left, so... yay! haha**

**Hope you enjoy this fun-filled chapter, cause the next one's going to be "Bad ass" as Sakura said.**

**Oh yes, and Thank you all Soooooooooooooooooo much for the reviews and the favorites. They mean a lot to me and I do read every one!**

**Thanks again, I love you all!!!!!**

**Enjoy! ^-^  
**

* * *

_Recap..._

_She curled up along Itachi's side and closed her eyes. _

"_Goodnight Itachi. I love you." Itachi glanced over at her in shock. She loved him? Could He really love another person? Yes._

"_Goodnight Sakura. I... Love you too." He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. He missed the smile that formed on Sakura's lips._

_

* * *

  
_

Sakura awoke to the feeling of someone staring at her. Paranoid, she wrenched her eyes open only to find that Itachi was the source. Sakura rolled her eyes and laid her head on his chest. She felt him let out a deep chuckle.

"Did I scare you?" Sakura playfully slapped him in the chest before sitting up.

"No, just...surprised me is all." Sakura pushed the covers off and stood up, stretching her arms high above her head before letting them fall limply at her sides. Sakura glanced over at Itachi and saw that he was staring at her with a light smirk.

"Shower?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, thinking he had somehow read her mind. But then a grin broke out on her sleepy face when she realized that it was a suggestion.

"I would love a shower!" An hour and a half later found them both fully dressed and very happy. As soon as they exited the room, Itachis facade was back in place. They made their way down to the Kitchen for some breakfast. In the kitchen, Sakura noticed that it was practically empty save Kisame and Deidara. As soon as Deidara saw who came in, he immediately turned around, a heavy blush evident on his face.

Sakura snorted at his attempt to cover a blush. Sakura snuck up behind him and laid her head down on his shoulder, her lips almost touching his ear. She took a deep breath and...

"Deidara, you perv!!!!" Deidara flew out of his seat and pointed accusingly at her.

"Its not my fault your so damned loud!" Kisame immediately burst out in laughter. Sakuras mouth dropped open in shock.

"You did NOT just say that. Why the hell were you listening to me and Itachi?!?!" Sakura said angrily, slowly advancing towards Deidara. Said blond was slowly backing up. His eyes widened when his back hit the wall.

"I-I, um, what? M-my room is right next d-door. W-wait. What were you talking about?" Deidara had his hands out in front of him, waiting for Sakura to start hitting him. Sakura crossed her arms.

"I thought you were still on about that first time you thought me and Itachi slept together. Apparently, I was wrong..." Deidaras face turned bright red.

"Shit. I hate you." Deidara pouted before dashing out of the room, nearly knocking a confused Hidan over.

"Hey! What the fuck man? Stop trying to fucking kill me girly." Hidan replied from the doorway.

"Me?? I did nothing!" Sakura shot back, her face still beaming from her encounter with Deidara.

"Bull shit. You made Deidara run off, which in turn nearly fucking killed me." Sakura rolled her eyes and sat down at the table.

"What ever you say. I don't know why you're so angry about it. It's not like you can die..." Hidan glared at the pinkette and sat down opposite her.

"Ah, speaking of idiots..." Hidan shot Sakura another deadly glare. Sakura just ignored it. "Where is Kisame? Is he on the floor?" Sakura stood up and walked around the table to find Kisame on the floor, clutching his sides. Tears were streaming down his face.

"Are you even breathing?" Sakura asked, amused as the blue man starts to slowly turn purplish tint from laughing so hard.

"Probably not. Good job Sakura." Itachi said quietly, staring down at his partner with an unnoticeable smirk.

"Hey! All I did was go after Deidara in an amusing way. Fish face here is the one who found it so funny that he couldn't breathe. Don't you have gills or something? Need a glass of water?" Taking his continuous laughter as an answer, Sakura went over to the sink and filled a glass with some water. She brought it back over and proceeded to dump it onto Kisames face. He abruptly stopped laughing and looked up at Sakura with wide eyes.

"Really? I was enjoying a good laugh here! So what if I couldn't breathe... WAIT!! Did you just say I had gills?!?!" Sakura gave Kisame a sheepish grin and went back to her seat. Kisame stuck his tongue out at the girl and turned back to making breakfast. Sakura ended up having a one sided conversation with Itachi while she waited for breakfast.

"What was your most difficult mission?"

"Hn." Sakura's eye twitched.

"Was it really that bad?"

"Hn." Sakura let out a smile.

"So it was really bad!"

"Hn."

"How long did it take? Did you get injured?"

"Hn." If Sakura hadn't been paying attention, she would have missed the smirk that graced his lips before disappearing. Sakura was about to punch Itachi in the shoulder when a plate of pancakes were placed in front of her.

"OOOH! Pancakes!" Sakura poured syrup on them and immediately set to work.

"I hope you fucking choke."

* * *

After breakfast found Sakura sitting outside, basking in the sun as she listened to Deidara and Kisame spar. Sakura glanced up at the person who sat down next her. It was Konan, and she had a big grin on her face.

"Glad to see you finally outside. You were holed up in that Library for waaay to long." Sakura just smiled and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, I know. I'm glad to finally be out of there too. I may love to study, but too much makes a girl really bored." Konan let out a light laugh and laid out beside Sakura.

"So, I came out here for a reason. Pein said he wants to talk to you after lunch. Didn't say what for, just that he wanted to talk to you." Sakura nodded.

"I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what he wants." Konan looked over at Sakura.

"Do you think it has to do with those endless hours you spent in the library?"

"Yup." Sakura enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes before opening her eyes and glancing over at Konan. "Why is it so quiet all of a sudden? I'm pretty sure it is impossible for Deidara to be quiet; at all." Sakura sat up an looked around. No one was outside. Sakura heard Konan sit up.

"What the hell? This can't be good..." Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Maybe Tobi did something stupid again." Konan laughed.

"That wouldn't surprise me. Maybe we should... oh shit." Sakura glanced at her, confusion written clearly on her face. But realization soon replaced confusion as she figured out what Konan was talking about. Just as they were about to run, a wave of cold water assaulted them. Too stunned to do anything, they just stared dumbly at a hysterical Kisame and Deidara.

"You should... see the look... on you're faces!!" Deidara managed to say between loud bursts of laughter. Sakura brought a hand to her hair and rung it out before letting it fall flat against her shoulder. Konan simply shook her head like a dog.

"Now that wasn't very nice." Konan said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, What did we ever do to you?" Sakura mimicked Konans actions. Deidara and Kisame stopped laughing and glared at Sakura.

"What do you mean, never did anything to us. You practically ruined my life!" Deidara yelled out, dramatically putting a hand to either side of his face. Sakura shrugged off his bad acting and left, mumbling something about clean clothes and lunch. Konan also left, but not without giving each man a swift kick to their privates. ^-^

- - - - - - - - -

A clean change of clothes later, Sakura was in the kitchen to make some lunch. Too lazy to make anything difficult, she set a pot of water to boil so she could have some ramen.

"_Hey Sakura-chan! Want to go get some ramen with me?" _Sakura scowled at that memory. Sakura glared at the innocent ramen as she threw it into the pot of boiling water. She pictured Naruto inside the pot, begging for forgiveness as he was slowly boiled. A sadistic smile crept onto he face as more of her ex- comrades appeared in the boiling water, all begging for her to stop.

"That is definitely a smile that does not belong on your face. Oh and your ramen is done." Itachi spoke from beside Sakura. Sakura dropped the smile and went to finish her ramen.

"I suppose I learn from the best." She said quietly as she put her ramen into a bowl. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the container and sat down at the table to eat. She felt Itachis stare on her, but she ignored it.

"Did the ramen do something to you?" Itachi said softly. Sakura finally looked up at him with a glare.

"Stupid Naruto. Stupid Konoha. Stupid ramen!" Sakura growled, stabbing at the ramen with her chopsticks.

"Calm down. Stabbing the ramen isn't going to help." Sakura sighed and put her chopsticks down.

"Yeah, but picturing those bastards inside the bowl and me stabbing them does." Itachi said nothing but he didn't have to. "When I see them again, they're gonna wish they never messed with me!" Sakura grabbed her chopsticks and resumed eating.

"Ah." Sakura just laughed at Itachis attempt at agreeing with her. When she finished her ramen, Sakura followed Itachi out of the kitchen and towards Peins office.

* * *

Pein studied the two standing before him. The pink haired girl, Sakura, has only been with the organization for just about a month. But she seemed to be getting along fine with all the members, and was proving herself to be a valuable asset to said group. She was definitely a breath of fresh air for the organization.

The other person, Itachi, has been with the group for almost six years. He's extremely quiet and shows very little emotion, but seems to get along extremely well with Sakura.

"Alright,I'm sure the two of you are wondering why I called you in here. Sakura, seeing as you've been here for nearly a month, It's time I started sending you on missions. As our only medic, you won't be seeing a ton of missions, but you will go on a few, especially accompanying others on extremely dangerous missions.

You will be leaving to go on your first mission tomorrow. Everything that you need to know is in this scroll. You will have Itachi and Kisame as your partners. You basically have free run of this mission, only because it is one that you came to me about earlier. I want you to be back in no more than two weeks. Understand?" Sakura and Itachi nodded. Sakura had a grin on her face, but it wasn't a normal grin. It was feral.

"Good. Make sure you debrief Kisame. You're dismissed." The two bowed and left the office. The pair then walked off to try and find Kisame.

_'It's about time! I finally get to go to Konoha and get that damn information.'_

"_**Awesome! I guess this officially makes us Akatsuki members."**_

_'Yup. Feels good too. Can't wait to see the look on Tsunades face when she finds out that I truly am in the Akatsuki and I have no intention of ever leaving.'_

"_**Too bad I don't have a camera. And the look on Sasukes face when he sees you with his brother. That'll be good too."**_

_'Yeah. I can't wait!'_ Sakura came out of her conversation with her inner to see Kisame staring at her like she had three heads.

"Are you alright? Kinda spaced out there." Sakura waved her hand at him.

"Fine. Just thinking about the mission." And with that said, Itachi and Sakura told Kisame about the mission and the three of them read through the mission scroll.

"So this is simple enough. Go into Konoha, steal some top secret shit, knock a few heads,and then come home." Sakura laughed.

"Yup, pretty much. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna go take a nap." As soon as Sakura was upstairs and on the bed, she fell asleep.

Sakura woke hours later to the smell of food. She pulled a hand through her bedraggled hair as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Good morning sleepy head." Konan said cheerfully as Sakura sat down at the table.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I was tired, alright? Pass the rice!" Konan laughed as she passed the rice to Sakura.

* * *

"So how'd everything go with Pein?" Konan asked after dinner. The two of them were sitting in a secluded corner of the "Living room". Both sat in super plushy arm chairs.

"Fine. I have a mission tomorrow with Kisame and Itachi."

"First mission! Are you excited?" Sakura nodded her head feverishly. Konan raised an eyebrow.

"Hell yeah. I mean, who wouldn't be? I get to sneak in to my ex village and steal some top secret medical information." Konans mouth formed an 'O'.

"I agree. I was excited the first time too. Now, how about a game of cards?" By the time Sakura got to her room, it was nearly midnight.

Sakura groaned. "I still need to pack." So quickly, Sakura put together a bag that would last her about two weeks. She made sure everything was neat and double checked that everything was there before changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth. Just as she exited the bathroom, Itachi came walking in. Sakura watching him go into the bathroom to brush his teeth, then walk back out clad only in a pair of black shorts. He climbed in to bed and wrapped his arms around Sakura.

"Goodnight." Sakura said. Itachi leaned over and kissed her. Sakura smiled into the kiss. It was soft, but it held enough passion to tell her that even though he doesn't show it, he loves her.

"Goodnight."

* * *

**I still laugh every time I read this. Hope you all did the same. **

**Next chapter, we will finally see some mission action. **

**Until then, **

**-fated blondie-  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**Alright, I'm backkkk! Sorry about the wait. Too much to do. -.-**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! They're finally on the mission and ready to Kick some Konoha ass. lol, not really. Well, they might, just not now.**

**Once again, I'm sorry for the loooooong delay. Oh yeah, I don't own Naruto. :P**

**ENJOY! :3**

**

* * *

**

_Recap_

_Sakura groaned. "I still need to pack." So quickly, Sakura put together a bag that would last her about two weeks. She made sure everything was neat and double checked that everything was there before changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth. Just as she exited the bathroom, Itachi came walking in. Sakura watched him go into the bathroom to brush his teeth, then walk back out clad only in a pair of black shorts._

"_Goodnight." Sakura said. Itachi leaned over and kissed her. Sakura smiled into the kiss. It was soft, but it held enough passion to tell her that even though he doesn't show it, he loves her._

"_Goodnight." _

* * *

In the morning, Sakura took a quick shower and got into her mission clothes. She decided to wear her decorative black Kimono she picked out. It had long sleeves to hide weapons and was short enough that it didn't hinder her movement. Not to mention it showed off her beautiful legs. She wrapped her upper thigh and secured her weapons pouch over it. Just as she was beginning to put her new boots on, Itachi came in.

"Are you almost ready? We need to leave." Sakura attached the last buckle to her boot and stood up.

"Just need to do my hair and get my stuff." She threw her hair into a messy bun and stuck poisoned senbons in to keep her hair in place. Smiling at her reflection, she threw on her Akatsuki cloak, grabbed her hat and her bag, and followed the impatient Itachi out.

"Morning pinky. Ready for your first mission?" Kisame said as she entered the kitchen. Sakura made up a quick plate of toast and some fruit and sat down to eat.

"Of course I am. What I can't handle is being stuck with you." Kisame pouted and resumed eating. When they were all ready, they headed outside.

"We should be there by sundown. We'll sneak in and get a room so we can get an early start tomorrow. Let's go." The three nodded and disappeared into the trees towards Konoha.

"So what exactly are these important documents about?" Kisame asked as he ran along side Sakura.

"Documents that are none of your concern. The only thing you two need to worry about is retrieving those scrolls from Danzo. I can do my mission on my own." Sakura said, a grin ghosting her lips as she thought about the looks of her former friends.

"Fine. But if you need us, call us. I can't have them turning my bad little girl into a good little girl. Once is enough." Sakura punched him in the shoulder as they continued to run.

"Don't go soft on me now fish face. They'll end up using you for sushi if you do." Sakura laughed and sped up as she heard Kisame growl.

"Fuck you pinky. I hope they turn you into a smoothie." Sakura just continued to laugh. She glanced over to see what Itachi was doing but the hat was covering his face so she couldn't tell. Sakura let out a long sigh.

"_**Oh stop being such a girl and get a move on. I can't wait to get started on this mission!"**_

_'Fine... And don't tell me that. You're such a hypocrite...' _

_

* * *

_

It was nearly dusk when the trio arrived just outside Konohas gates.

"It's about damned time we got here. I'm tired." Kisame said, sitting down on a nearby rock. Sakura rolled her eyes. They quickly took off their Akatsuki clothes and weapons and put them away.

"Shut up you. Now, If I remember correctly, the guards change in about five minutes. We should make sure our disguises are fool proof before we go in. We don't need to be causing problems this early in the mission." They all nodded at once.

"Henge no jutsu." the three murmured simultaneously. Sakura smirked as she felt her body shift. Instead of pink hair, she now had long black hair that she tied loosely at the end with a blue ribbon. Her eyes were a baby blue and she was a couple inches taller than her normal body size.

"Trying to be taller while you can pinky?" Sakura threw a kunai at him, which he caught. Kisame was still the same height, only he had normal, tan skin. His short hair was a dirty blond and he had dark green eyes.

"I could say the same to you, fish face. You look normal for once. Maybe you'll get laid some day if you keep that look." This time it was Kisames turn to get angry and throw the kunai. Sakura simply stepped to the side and let it embed itself into a tree. Sakura stuck her tongue out at Kisame. A soft cough brought them out of their bickering. Itachi stood there, arms crossed waiting for them.

"Sorry." Sakura said sheepishly. Itachi looked pretty much the same, only his eyes were a soft brown and his hair was much shorter, only reaching past his shoulders. He was a little shorter than his usual height and instead of black, his hair was a dark red. She watched him slip on a pair of glasses.

_'Poor Itachi. Here's for hoping I can fix his eyesight.' _Sakura gave Itachi a quick smile before replacing it with a scowl.

"Alright, lets go over our cover story once more. We're three village people from waterfall out traveling. We wanted to see all the different countries because we're curious as to what else is out there besides just waterfall country. We've heard stories about all the different countries but we wanted to experience them for our selves." 'Her boys' nodded.

"In no way are we to perform any stunts which may make others question our identities." Itachi spoke softly, his eyes darting between his partners. Sakura, who was pulling her kunai out of the tree, gave a slight pout and threw it into her holster which was now hidden within her bag.

"Alright, let's go. I'm hungry." Kisame said, his voice slightly softer than his usual gravely voice. The trio confidently walked back onto the main road and towards Konoha's Giant gates. As soon as they reached the gates, they quickly made sure no one was near bye and swiftly knocked out the four guards as they were switching positions.

"Idiots. And they wonder why I left..." Sakura murmured quietly. They walked down the quickly darkening streets of Konoha and towards the hotel they would be staying at during the mission.

"Move to the left and down that street." Sakura looked questioningly at Itachi. She looked to where he was glancing and saw Kakashi and Genma walking towards them.

"Dead end." She whispered. And then in a louder voice added, "Can you not get us lost Sanji? It's bad enough it took us three hours just to get here, don't make it another three just to get to the hotel." Sanji, aka Itachi, rolled his eyes and gave Sakura a light shove.

"That wasn't my fault. Kanta is just so slow. It's not my fault he distracted me into taking us the wrong way." Sakura noticed that Kakashi and Genma were looking at them.

"Hey, don't blame all this crap on me. You two are the ones that wanted to go traveling."

"Oh shut up. I'm asking for directions." Sakura said. She walked right up to Kakashi and Genma and flashed a sweet smile.

"I'm sorry to bother you two handsome men," Inner Sakura gagged. "But it seems we're a bit lost. Could you tell us how to get to the hotel?" Genma, of course, let a perverted grin cross his face. He nonchalantly threw an arm around her waist and started to walk her towards the hotel. Kakashi rolled his eyes and motioned for Itachi and Kisame to follow.

"So what's a pretty gal like you doing wandering around these parts." Sakura inwardly groaned as Genmas hand 'accidentally' slipped down to her butt.

"We're just out seeing all the different countries. We've heard stories about them, but we decided we wanted to see them for ourselves." Genma nodded, as if he actually cared about what Sakura was saying.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe a week or two. Depends on what we feel like seeing. Almost certain that we won't be here longer than a month. We have many other places to see."

"Well, That sounds like you three are gone for a long time. Where exactly are you from?" Kakashi said, popping up on the left side of her. Sakura glanced up at her ex-sensei and held a snarl back.

"We're from the waterfall country. We grew up listening to the stories the ninja told about all the different places they traveled to on missions. So when we got older, we decided to go out and see them for ourselves." Kakashi hummed.

"There are many great places to see in this world. That's what is so great about being a ninja. Well, that and helping people I suppose." Kakashi said smoothly, not once looking up from his book. Not that it surprised Sakura, he never did put that book down. The only time he really put it down was to check out a cute girl or to fight someone other than her teammates.

"Well, here we are." Kakashi said, pointing to the Hotel. It was rather large and clean looking. It was used for all travelers coming into Konoha. Sakura turned to Genma and Kakashi and smiled.

"Thank you for showing us the way. See you around." And with a wink, she grabbed Kisame and Itachi by the wrists and pulled them into the hotel.

"Watch the strength there pinky, You nearly broke my wrist." Kanta, aka Kisame, whined. He rubbed at his wrist dramatically. Sakura, aka Haya, rolled her eyes and proceeded to the front counter. Sakura smiled at the person.

"Hi, We'd like two rooms please?" The young lady working the desk gave an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, All we have left right now is a King bed suite." Sakura just nodded.

"That will be fine. These knuckleheads know how to sleep on the floor." The girl laughed and handed Sakura the keys.

"Your room is on the third floor, down the hallway to your right. Enjoy!" Sakura thanked the cheerful girl and followed the directions.

"Who're you calling a knucklehead? And what's this about sleeping on the floor? I don't do floors." Kisame whined as they walked down the hall to their room.

"Well I'm sure as hell not sleeping on the floor. Besides, there's usually couches and whatnot in suites. I think you'll survive princess." She said sarcastically. Itachi snorted at the nickname. Before Kisame could say anything, Sakura had opened the door to their hotel room and was walking in.

"This isn't too bad. It'll work for the mission." Itachi said calmly as he placed his bad on the bed. Sakura nodded and also put her things down on the bed. It was big enough for three people, But there was a couch, so that's where Kisame would sleep. After releasing her henge, Sakura grabbed her stuff for a shower and her pajamas and headed into the bathroom before either of her teammates could even think of what they wanted to do first.

* * *

After Sakura had gotten out of the shower, They sat at the table and went through the map of Konoha, for Kisames sake. Although, it was hard to go through something when the person you are trying to help just complains.

"Can we pleaseeeeee get something to eat? I'm starving..." Kisame said for like the fifth time. Frustrated, Sakura smacked Kisame upside the head.

"Fine, I'll go get us some damned food." She said, and stomped over to her things to get changed. Coming out in a simple pair of shorts and a tank top, she threw on her sandals and grabbed her wallet.

"Thank you Sakura channnnn." Kisame sang as she put her henge back on. Sakura just shook her head in annoyance. Itachi gave her a small nod of appreciation when she glanced over at him. With a small smile, she left the room. Sakura stepped out onto the lantern lit streets of Konoha and made her way to her favorite restaurant. And no, it wasn't Ichiraku. It was a tasty restaurant that she went to a lot when she still lived in Konoha.

"Looks like very little has changed around here. Not that I have been gone for that long." Sakura laughed quietly to herself as she walked down the street toward the restaurant. Just as she was about to walk in, a very recognizable voice called out to her.

"Hey pretty lady, what are you doing back out here?" Genma said. Sakura glanced at the restaurant and then back to him. Boy was he dumb.

"Getting food for my teammates and I. Now if you would excuse me." Sakura turned around and started to walk into the restaurant. Genma grabbed her hand. Bad Idea. Sakura spun around and yanked her arm from his grip.

"Don't touch me. I don't want to go anywhere other than this restaurant and my hotel. It has been a long day. Now, excuse me." Sakura said with a slight hiss. Genma watched with wide eyes as she disappeared into the restaurant.

"Hmmmm. Who does that remind you of?" Genma said aloud, knowing Kakashi was behind him.

"Yeah, She does remind me of Sakura. That's kind of scary." He said quietly, and they both turned and left.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, a frustrated Sakura left the restaurant with two bags of food in her hands.

"It shouldn't take that long to make food. Kisame must be chewing on Itachi by now." At the mental image of Kisame chewing on a growling Itachi, Sakura broke out in a fit of giggles. She continued to laugh all the way back to the hotel. The person sitting at the desk gave her a strange look as she walked past. When she opened the door to the room and looked over at Kisame and Itachi, She began to laugh even harder.

You guys... are so boringgg." She said in between laughs. They both looked at her like she was insane. Well, she kind of was. But that's besides the point. She calmed herself down and put the food on the table. After releasing the henge and changing back into her pj's, she sat down at the table to eat.

"So what was with the laughing? You over-tired or something?" Kisame asked as he helped himself to some noodles.

"I was frustrated that it had taken so long to get food, and I thought that you would probably be chewing on Itachi by the time I got here." Kisame huffed but the smile on his face gave away his true thoughts. Itachi on the other hand, rolled his eyes and began eating.

"I saw Genma again on my way to get dinner." Itachi glanced up at her.

"What happened?" He asked. If he were anyone else, she would think he was acting like he was concerned.

"Nothing, I yelled at him and went to get our food. Didn't actually let him try to talk." Kisame chuckled.

"Sounds like something you would do pinky." Sakura smiled and looked over at Itachi, who was still staring at her. She gave him a questioning look.

"Fine, he grabbed my wrist to try and get me to go somewhere with him. You know how Genma is, he's a womanizer. Completely harmless." She said, buckling under the pressure of Itachis stare. Itachi gave a minuscule nod and returned to his food. The rest of dinner was spent as it usually was, Sakura and Kisame bantering back and forth, and Itachi sitting quietly; observing his two teammates. By the time they had finished eating, Kisame and Sakura were in one of their usual arguments.

"I still think he isn't who he says he is. There's something not right about him. No ninja is that stupid and accident-prone like that." Sakura said. Kisame shook his head.

"It is possible. Look at Naruto, he's just a stupid and accident- prone." Sakura thought about it for a minute, but then made a noise of disapproval.

"Yeah, But that's Naruto. Everyone knows who he is. Tobi, on the other hand, is a complete stranger. It just feels like he's not showing us his true side is all." Kisame shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

"Whatever. You could be right. I just think you're thinking it over too much. No person in their right mind would act that stupid just for a cover..." Kisame grabbed stuff from his bag and left to go take a shower. Itachi glanced over at Sakura to see her staring intently off into space. He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting and put his hands on her shoulders. She jumped slightly and stared up at Itachi.

"Get some sleep. You look exhausted." He said quietly as he removed his hands from her shoulders and helped her stand up. She gave him a small smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. He let his arms wrap loosely around her upper back. After what seemed like hours later, Sakura broke the hug and stood on her tippy toes to give him a kiss.

"Goodnight." She went to walk to the shared bed but he caught her by the wrist and spun her around so she was facing him. He slid a hand behind her head and pulled her into anther kiss. She let out a small gasp as they moved backwards and tumbled onto the bed. He trailed kisses down her exposed neck and back up to her lips. He pulled away and sat up just as Kisame was coming out of the bathroom.

"Goodnight." He said softly and grabbed his stuff for a shower. Kisame raised an eyebrow at Sakura as the door to the bathroom closed. She just gave him a big grin.

"He was saying goodnight."

* * *

**Well, i hope you enjoyed this chapter. For how long it took, it was a lot of fun to write. **

**Hopefully I'll be a bit quicker in my next update. *is most likely procrastinating* -.-**

**Until then, bye byeeeeee! ^-^  
**


	20. Chapter 20

Hey look! A new chapter! I apologize for the, um, extended delay. You see, this handsome man appeared, held out his hand, and told me to run. It was quite the adventure if I do say so myself. He had the strangest blue box. It's bigger on the inside, you know.

But enough about me; onto a completely different fandom.

ENJOY! :)

* * *

_Recap_

"_Goodnight." She went to walk to the shared bed but he caught her by the wrist and spun her around so she was facing him. He slid a hand behind her head and pulled her into anther kiss. She let out a small gasp as they moved backwards and tumbled onto the bed. He trailed kisses down her exposed neck and back up to her lips. He pulled away and sat up just as Kisame was coming out of the bathroom._

"_Goodnight." He said softly and grabbed his stuff for a shower. Kisame raised an eyebrow at Sakura as the door to the bathroom closed. She just gave him a big grin._

"_He was saying goodnight." _

* * *

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she noticed that she was curled up against Itachi, her head buried in his shoulder.

_'I don't even remember him coming to bed. I must have fallen asleep pretty fast.' _Sakura lifted her head up a fraction to see if Itachi was still sleeping. He was.

"_**He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping. He doesn't look like he's in pain right now, so that's good." **_

_'When did you wake up? But yeah, you're right. It's nice to see his face showing some sort of real calmness, rather than his emotionless facade. Makes him look much more handsome.'_

"_**Yeah. Not that he isn't already handsome. You dummy! I wake up when you do. It's like six a.m., go back to sleep!" **_Sakura inwardly smiled at her inner's rant.

_'You take naps all the time.' _Inner Sakura growled.

"_**So? You still woke me up early, jerk." **_Sakura rolled her eyes and curled back up against Itachi.

_'Fine... happy?' _Her answer was a yawn.

When she woke up again, it was around nine. She was still laying flush against Itachi, which was a surprise to her. Usually he was up early. Earlier than any Akatsuki member could even dream of comprehending, even during a mission. Lazy ninja, the lot of them. She sat up slowly and glanced over at the couch. Sakura had to hold in her laughter. Kisame was barely on the couch. His lower half was on the floor; the blanket wrapped tightly around his torso.

_'He's gonna be one sore fishy.' _Smiling broadly, Sakura carefully got up out of bed and stretched out her stiff muscles. She glanced back over to Itachi to see if he was still sleeping, grabbed her clothes, and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

She decided to wear a pair of comfortable cargo pants and a tight tank top. With all the pockets, she could hide some weapons in there just in case. She made the hand signs and watched as her body formed into her henge. Sakura brushed her new black hair out and let it fall in loose waves.

"Not that it matters..." She muttered to herself. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Satisfied, Sakura exited the bathroom to see that her two teammates were still sleeping.

"Gah, what lazy people. Guess I'll go get something for breakfast then..." Sakura grabbed her wallet and the key to the hotel room, and left in search of some breakfast. When she asked the desk clerk, she told her that there was a buffet in the hotel.

_'Score! I never thought this place was that nice.' _Sakura found the restaurant and had three plates made up for her and her teammates. Happy, she brought the food back up to their room and placed it down on the table.

"Three... two... one..." As if on cue, Kisame's head popped up, and the rest of his body tumbled off the couch. The sudden loud noise then woke Itachi up. Itachi abruptly sat up and stared wide-eyed at the heap that was Kisame. Sakura keenly noticed that there was a kunai clutched in his left hand. Kisame started cursing, and Itachi glared at Sakura. Sakura just smiled innocently and pointed to the food sitting on the table.

"I brought breakfast." Itachi pulled a shirt from his back and slipped into it. Getting out from under the covers, he stood and padded over to where Kisame lay. He took one look at the mess and sat down on the floor next to Sakura.

"I see how it is. Just let me suffer. It's okay..." Kisame mumbled, fighting to get out of the constricting blankets.

* * *

Once the three had finished eating breakfast, Sakura sat on the window sill, idly watching the people below as Kisame and Itachi got ready.

_'I wonder what would have happened if I decided to stay here and say no to Itachi...' _Sakura let her eyes drift shut as she thought about what her life would've been like had she not joined the Akatsuki.

_**Dream scene...**_

_Sakura walked down the street towards the center of town. The jonin exams were being held today. All the chunin she knew were in it. All of them except her. She tried so many times to get Kakashi or Tsunade to vouch for her so that she could enter, but they both declined. Tsunade vouched for Ino while Kakashi vouched for Sasuke. _

"_Everyone thinks I'm so weak... It's just not fair." She said glumly as she mixed into the crowd of excited ninja. She glared at Tsunade as she stepped up to the podium to announce the chunin that would be competing for jonin status. Basically, there were three parts to the competition. Part I: a one on one match against a ranking jonin ninja. Part II: Battle with two other teammates, against a team not competing, And part III: Being captain for a team of three chunin for a mock mission. There was no elimination, you were only graded for how well you did in each part. And if you passed all three with good marks, you got promoted to jonin status. _

"_Part one will be beginning shortly." Tsunade announced as the doors to the stadium opened up to let the crowd in. Sakura took a seat in the front stands with some of the other ninja. Some of them gave her weird or cruel looks, but Sakura ignored them and stared down at the fights. She watched as both Naruto and Sasuke destroyed their opponents, Ino get an ass kicking and nearly lose, and everyone else just barely pass. The people in the stadium all stood up to clap and cheer as Tsunade came out to congratulate the chunin for doing well in the first round._

"_Part two will begin in two hours! Now get outta here so we can clean up and prepare!" She boomed with a smile on her face. Sakura took that as her cue to head down and help out. She jumped over the front wall and landed softly in the arena below. Ino turned at the sound and gave her a nasty look. _

"_What are you doing down here? I didn't think they'd let someone as weak as you come down to help." Sakura just made a face at her. Sakura walked over to a tree that Naruto managed to snap with his rasengan, and picked it up as if it was a stick. Ino's jaw dropped slightly, which made Sakura smirk. _

"_HEY Yamato-san! Where do you want this?" She yelled, gaining everyone's attention. Yamato smiled and shook his head. He walked past the small group ninja and stood near Sakura. _

"_You can break it up and send it over the wall and into the woods. They'll be cleaned up once the jonin exams are over with." Sakura smiled lightly and waited for him to step back before swiftly snapping the giant tree in half. She gave an innocent smile at the group before dropping the two pieces to the ground. After breaking the pieces with some chakra-laced punches, she chucked each piece over the towering wall and gave a little victory cheer as she heard each one slam into the ground on the other side. She wiped her hands on her skirt and turned to Yamato. _

" _So what's next?" Yamato laughed and pointed at the jonin sitting down ready to be treated. _

"_Why don't you use your crazy powers and heal some people. I'll get the rest." Sakura just clapped him on the shoulder, stuck her tongue out at her fellow ninja, and jogged over to the injured jonin so that she could heal them._

"_What the hell was that? That WAS Sakura right?" Kiba said, watching the pink-haired girl smile at a jonin as she started to help him. Tsunade shook her head slowly._

"_Yeah, it was. She's really that strong." She said. Ino let out a growl and stomped her foot angrily._

"_Who does she think she is, showing off like that?! She's not supposed to be that strong! She was NEVER that strong." Ino waved her arms around like a madman and Sasuke had to step back to avoid being hit. _

"_Yeah, she could never beat any of us when we battled each other in training. The only thing she's good for is healing and something good to look at." Sasuke said smugly, making a gesture for large breasts. Kiba laughed, agreeing with Sasuke. _

"_Alright, enough of that. If you're hurt, go see the medics. If not, go rest to prepare for the next part of the competition." Tsunade said roughly, shooing the chunin away. Out of fear, the ninja quickly scattered. Tsunade watched wearily as Sakura laughed happily at something Kotetsu had told her. Kotetsu looked back at Tsunade and game her an evil smirk before returning his attention to Sakura. Kakashi looked at Tsunade with a wary look. Kotetsu and Sakura were planning something. _

"_I don't know what to do with her anymore... We all think of her as this weak girl, and then she just shows off all this raw power. I can't understand why. You always focused on Naruto and Sasuke, and I only taught her the medical background so she could be a medic." Tsunade ran a hand over her face tiredly. Kakashi just shook his head and walked away, no doubt to talk to Naruto and Sasuke about the next round. _

"_Sakura?" She looked around but saw no one calling her name. Confused, she began walking away when her name was called again. _

Sakura felt herself being shaken, and she opened her eyes to see Itachi standing in front of her. She gave him a tired smile.

"I guess I fell asleep. I had the weirdest dream..." She shook her head lightly and stood up. She brought her arms up into the air and sighed in content when quiet pops were heard from her back. Her arms fell to the side with a fast swish and she walked over to the bed to poke through her day bag.

"So what's the plan for today?" Kisame asked as he came out of the bathroom. He already had his henge in place, which made Sakura do a double-take.

"I forgot how different you look when you have your henge on. You aren't blue and scary looking!" Sakura laughed loudly and ducked behind him before he tried to hit her. After checking to make sure all of their henge were flawless, the three Ninja headed out of their hotel room and down through the lobby to the street outside. Sakura turned to the two men she was with.

"Well, I'm going to go do some snooping around town just to see what has changed. We have time, so I'm not going to rush planning this out. We're going to pull this off with a big bang!" She smiled with an insane glint in her eye and spun around in a circle; arms out wide. Itachi nodded, while inwardly he shook his head at Sakura's display.

"Boy have you changed pinky. I blame him." Kisame pointed his thumb back at Itachi, who just gave him a bored look.

"Good, while you do that, Kanta and I are going to pay the old Uchiha compound a visit. I have a few things I want to look for. Meet atop the Hokage mountain in 2 hours. Kanta, let's go." Itachi nodded to Sakura and turned to leave, a very flustered Kisame following. Sakura smirked at their retreating backs.

_'I almost feel sorry for Kisame... Almost.' _Inner Sakura cackled loudly as Sakura let her feet taker her down a well known path: Her old home. Sakura let her eyes wander around, looking at all the familiar sights. Nothing had changed, she thought disdainfully. She forced herself to smile sweetly as a little girl ran past her, waving happily as she went. She stopped in front of a rather large house, and stared impassively up at the balcony where her room once was.

_'I bet they forgot about me real quick. They were always so opposed to me becoming a kunoichi. They always said I wasn't good enough to be one.' _Inner Sakura scoffed angrily.

"_**Yeah? Well look at where you are now. S-class missing nin, medic to the most powerful and feared group among the five nations, and girlfriend to the hottest ninja the fire country ever produced!" **_ Sakura had to keep herself from laughing out loud. Her inner sure knew how to say what she wanted. Sakura gave one last look at the house she lived in all her life, before spinning on her heel and walking off in the other direction. As Sakura was walking towards the more main part of Konoha, she pulled out a notebook from the bag she was carrying and tried to make herself seem in awe of her surroundings.

_'This is too fucking easy... It seriously should not have been this easy to sneak into town. I hope this mission is easy and pleasurable!' _Sakura couldn't help but let a small smirk form on her lips. It was quickly replaced with a frown when she felt someone coming up behind her.

"Excuse me miss?" The voice said, and put a hand on her shoulder. Sakura immediately tensed up and spun around to face the stranger. She almost growled at who was standing in front of her. Instead, she smiled politely and gave a short bow.

"OH! Good morning! Thank you for helping us out last night. That was very nice of you. I feel like I should apologize for my actions towards you yesterday. I was extremely tired from our trip and I was a tad crabby. What was your name again?" She could hear her inner puking at her sweet words. The man flashed her a handsome smile.

"Oh that? I've already forgotten about that little spat. I could tell you were tired. The name is Genma. Shiranui Genma. And your name was?" She watched the senbon bounce slightly as he spoke. Inner Sakura was hoping he swallowed it. As much as she agreed, Sakura knew that wasn't possible. She was sure the man slept with it in his mouth.

"My name is Haya. I'm a villager from a small village in the waterfall country. Like I said last night, my two friends and I are just out exploring all there is to see." She noticed the quick look of surprise and worry that came upon his face when she said that she was from the waterfall country. As a former resident from Konoha, she was well aware of the suspicion and uneasiness Konoha had when confronted with anyone from waterfall country. She watched his face morph back into a bored look as he continued to study her. Sakura tried to keep herself from knocking him out. Pig.

"Well Haya, It's a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps I could show you around? What kind of gentleman would I be to let such a cute girl such as yourself wander around such a big place like Konoha?" He gave her his trademark grin that had most women swooning- except her. Sakura knew what kind of man Genma was. Aside from her ex-sensei Kakashi and the legendary Jiraya, Genma was probably one of the top perverts Fire country had to offer.

But at the same time, it would be a wise choice to play friendly with someone as well known as Genma. Sakura schooled her thoughts and gave Genma a sweet smile.

"Well thank you Genma-san. I'd be delighted to let you show me around!" Sakura gave him another one of her sweet smiles to seal the deal and drive away any doubts he may have had about her nationality.

_'Too easy...' _

And with that thought, she sidled up next to Genma and set to work on scoping out her old village while Genma rattled on about the different sights.

* * *

Hope you liked it! Again, I really am sorry it took so long.

~Fated Blondie


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my story thus far. Means a lot to me to know**

**people actually enjoy this story :)**

**Hope you all chapter 21! ~**

* * *

Recap

"_Well Haya, It's a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps I could show you around? What kind of gentleman would I be to let a cute girl such as yourself wander around such a big place like Konoha?" He gave her his trademark grin that had most women swooning- except her. Sakura knew what kind of man Genma was. Aside from her ex-sensei Kakashi and the legendary Jiraya, Genma was probably one of the top perverts Fire country had to offer. _

_But at the same time, it would be a wise choice to play friendly with someone as well known as Genma. Sakura schooled her thoughts and gave Genma a sweet smile. _

"_Well thank you Genma-san. I'd be delighted to let you show me around!" Sakura gave him another one of her sweet smiles to seal the deal and drive away any doubts he may have had about her nationality. _

_'Too easy...' _

_And with that thought, she sidled up next to Genma and set to work on scoping out her old village while Genma rattled on about the different sights. _

Nearly an hour and a half later, Sakura found herself with a violently twitching eye and a smile faker than Sasori's puppet body.

_'If Genma points out that hot spring ONE more time so help me Kami, I will willingly abandon this mission and kill him in cold blood.'_

**"I wholeheartedly agree!"**

_'So you do still exist. Welcome back, crazy.' _

Sakura glanced over at Genma, wondering how stupid girls must be to fall for his charm. I mean sure, he's handsome, but dear Kami...It's so obvious that he's trying to get her to go with him to the hot spring.

"It's the best one in town. We are, after all, famous for our beautiful hot springs. So warm and relaxing. And did I mention that there are co-ed baths?" Sakura once again resisted the urge to wipe the smirk of his face and shove the senbon somewhere none too pleasant.

"Yes, I believe you mentioned that already. Listen, Genma-san? While I do enjoy your tour, I promised my two friends that I would meet them atop the... Hokage mountain? I was told two hours, and I'm certain it's been that long already. Would you mind showing me the way?" Genma turned to stare at the black-haired girl and gave her a small smile.

"Sure thing sweetheart!" Genma turned from her, missing her disgusted look, and led her in the direction of Konoha's grand Hokage monument. The second Sakura saw the stairs leading to the top, she resisted the urge to make a run for it and leave him in the dust. Sakura stopped in her tracks and turned to face Genma, hoping he would get the hint that he could leave her to her own devices.

"I think I can find my way from here now. I'm assuming it's just up these stairs. I really appreciate all your help with showing me around. I definitely learned a lot about your village. It truly is a beautiful place." Genma scratched the back of his head and smiled lightly.

"It's not a problem Haya-chan. I'd do anything for a pretty lady. And when I say anything, I mean it! So if you're ever looking for a good time, or you just want to get away from your two friends, just come looking. I'm never very far!" He gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Sakura's fake smile immediately dropped and she started for the stairs, idly rubbing viciously at her cheek, praying the kiss could just be wiped off and forgotten about.

– - - - - - - –

Sakura could hear Kisame whining before she even made it half-way up the mountain steps. His voice was a little pitchy, most likely to help sell the henge, but Sakura knew almost instantly that it was him. Only he could whine louder than Naruto when it came to lunch.

As Sakura got closer to to the top of the stairs, she could make out exactly what the large fish was saying.

"-ing her five more minutes before I ditch and go find a place to eat. She knows her way around, the little blossom won't get lost." She could now see that Kisame was sprawled out along a bench, glaring up at the sky. Itachi, looking far from imposing in hes henge, was standing a bit from his partner, staring out over Konoha with a hard look on his face.

"And here we find two of the most wanted criminals in the bingo books, lounging about like two little genin. Kisame, if you whine any louder, leader might be able to hear you from back at base..." Kisame shot up and gave Sakura a big grin.

"You're back! We can go eat now! Itachiiii, let's go eat!" Kisame, being the same size as his usual form, picked up an unsuspecting black-haired Sakura and turned to Itachi, who was watching Kisame with a scowl. Kisame let out a barking laugh and moved his hands further down her legs and pushed her farther back onto his shoulder.

"Kisame! Let go of me before I punch a hole into your back and pull your spine out."

One flinch and a cheer later, Sakura found herself with both feet on the ground, smoothing down her black tank top. Sakura looked back at Itachi and gave him a small smile.

"C'mon you, it's time for fish faces' feeding time. Can't have him picking off little genin from off the street. I think Konoha frowns upon that. We should invest in a muzzle. And a leash while we're at it." Sakura giggled at her own comment, watching Kisame jump from foot to foot from out of the corner of her eye.

Itachi shook his head and turned to move for Kisame, intent on getting off the mountain. Sakura watched curiously as he took one more look out over the village, put a strong hold on Sakura's waist, and pull her toward the stairs. Kisame gave Sakura a sly grin, motioning his head towards Itachi. Sakura could only give him a slight shrug of her shoulders, as even she couldn't figure out why Itachi was holding her so tightly.

Kisame went to say something, but held his tongue when he saw Sakura shake her head. Sakura shook her head to keep Kisame from saying something stupid. The last thing they needed was a pissed off Itachi.

45 minutes later found the trio sitting in a booth at a little barbecue restaurant, most likely owned by the Akimichi clan, waiting for their order to come to them. They would've arrived earlier had Sakura not pulled the two of them down a side road at top speed when she saw Naruto, Lee and Kiba round the corner. Not wanting to blow cover by attacking them, Sakura took the smart root and pulled Kisame and Itachi down a back road and took the long way through Konoha.

"They didn't even know who you were Haya. We could've gotten here sooner if you had just let us walk past them. An accidental punch in the throat, apologize for tripping on your own feet like a clumsy girl, and be on our merry way. I'M HUNGRY!" Kisame said, rubbing his stomach as he came to the end of his little rant.

"Shut up Kanta. You're being way to loud." Itachi murmured, his eyes focused out the window. Kisame had the decency to look a little ashamed and turned away, choosing to stare at one of the female waitresses.

With both of her teammates staring off into space, Sakura pulled out her small notebook and flipped it open.

_'This mission might end up being a lot easier than I thought it would be. They've lowered the amount of jonin present during the day. Konohas' ego must be getting to them. Not to mention how easy it was to get close to Genma. He was wary for all of 20 seconds, and then got distracted by a pretty face. How lame...' _

Kisame kicked her from under the table, and she shot a death glare at the tall man. He pointed to Itachi, who looked like he was falling asleep in his seat. Smiling softly, Sakura just shook her head and left Kisame to bugging his partner awake.

_'It must be his eyes. I'll ask about them tonight. Which reminds me, we need to figure out who's going to do a night patrol tonight. If the patrol is this lax during the day, then we have to assume it's tighter at night. Somewhere between dusk and dawn is a weak spot. And we have to find it.'_

"**Start writing down a list of all the ninja you know and their strengths and weaknesses. That way Kisame and Itachi-kun can get better acquainted with everyone in this shit hole village. That'll make it easier to formulate a plan and execute the SHIT out of this mission." **Sakura inwardly sighed, knowing that she had to agree with her inner.

_'For once, you actually said something that makes sense. All this alone time must be doing wonders on your intellect.' _She could hear her inner growling, which put a smile on her face. Sometimes it was good to have a second opinion, even if the opinion WAS coming from a second entity inside your head.

Sakura looked up from her notes just in time to see the waitress walking towards them with their food. She nearly face-palmed when she saw Kisame do a little dance in his seat.

"Kanta, you're ridiculous. Sanji, pass the salt please!" Sakura said with a grin as her food was placed in front of her. She said thank you to the waitress, and tucked into her steaming food.

With full bellies and a happy Kisame, the trio paid for their lunch and headed out into the street. They walked quietly, letting the people pass around them. Sakura subconsciously led them to a quiet part of the village, near one of the lesser used training fields.

"I never thought I would have to come back here. I get pissed just walking around."Sakura said, breaking the silence that surrounded the trio. Sakura crossed her arms, staring blankly up at the tree canopy. She felt Kisame put a large hand on her shoulder.

"I know kid, it sucks. Sucks for both of you, I'm sure." Sakura swiveled her head to glance over at Itachi, only to see him staring at her with an unreadable expression. Typical Uchiha. Sakura gave him a small, reassuring smile that promised him she was okay. It must have worked because he uncrossed his arms and shifted his attention to a couple of squirrels chasing one another up the tree.

Sakura shifted her attention back to Kisame, who removed his hand from her shoulder and stared out over the empty training grounds. Sakura took the hint and let a smile grace her lips.

"We're pretty secluded, ne? How about a spar? Just a quick one to get our muscles stretched and our blood pumping. After dealing with Genma all morning, I could definitely use a punching bag."

Kisame let out a sharp laugh and looked over at his partner, who had shifted his attention back to his two partners and was watching with faint interest. There may have even been a minute smirk adorning his face, but it was highly unlikely. Any emotion seen on Itachi, or and Uchiha for that matter, usually meant severe pain or gruesome death. Or they were going insane. Generally it was the former.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes. Alright then, you're on pinky. A couple of rules first. Tajutsu only. I don't have my Samehada with me, and any jutsu would more than likely alert the dick squad." Sakura started laughing.

"Alright, sounds fair. Everyone for themselves then." Itachi replied smoothly, sending a slightly annoyed look at Sakura that told her to shut up. Sakura just winked at Itachi and tugged her black gloves from her pocket, pulling them on swiftly. As soon as her hands came up, it was on.

Kisame faked Sakura out and flew at Itachi, his fist aimed for Itachi's face. Not one to fall for such cheap shots, Itachi swiftly dodged Kisames punch and swung his leg out to trip the bulky ninja. Kisame jumped, twisting around just in time to miss a left hook from Sakura. Itachi, who was next in the path of her strong left hook, grabbed her fist and flung her around and into a nearby tree.

Itachi dug his heel into the ground and pushed off, sending punch after punch at the normal-skinned Kisame. Itachi managed to land a strong hit to Kisames rib cage that had him reeling back. Kisame poked his rib with a flinch, staring up at Itachi with a pout.

"Mou, that hurt!" Itachi shrugged his shoulders and advanced towards Kisame, intent on giving him a thorough beating.

Meanwhile, Sakura pulled herself from the tree, yanking a large splinter from her side.

"Superficial, I'm not gonna die. Itachi might!" Sakura growled, staring at the two across the field. Sakura took off running, her feet humming with chakra to keep her at a break-neck pace. Itachi noticed her incoming first, turning around just in time to dodge a high kick aimed for the middle of his shoulders.

Kisame, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He took the chakra enhanced kick straight to the chest, letting out a large grunt as he slammed into the tree directly behind him. Sakura turned her attention to Itachi, who was slowly advancing on her.

"Your turn!" She said, and her fist flew for his stomach. Itachi blocked swiftly, pushing her fist off to the side and landed a hard hit to her jaw. Sakura ignored the sharp pain and took his moment of triumph to trip him. She landed roughly on top of him, her fist slamming into the ground just to the left of his head.

Her knee jammed into his crotch, and she smirked when she saw him flinch momentarily.

"I win." She whispered, pushing herself up to sit back on her heels. Bad move. Itachi flew up, grabbing her by her shoulders and shoving her backwards. He was up, grabbing her just before she hit the ground and shoved her into the cliff side just off to the right of them. The air left her lungs, and she coughed as she took in a lungful of dust.

Itachi rest his head on her shoulder, his lips just barely touching her ear. She tensed when he blew softly. She made to push him off, but he just grabbed her hands and held them to her stomach. He let out a soft chuckle that made her swallow involuntarily.

"No, I think I win." He ran a trail of dry kisses down her neck, licking his lips to taste her beautifully salty taste. She groaned softly, her mind slowly going blank. He let go of her hands and pushed away from her, letting her fall to the earth like a sack of potatoes.

"I hate you." She moaned as she let her head fall back to stare up at the canopy once more. She could hear him shuffle close and his face interrupted her view. His dark eyes staring down at her with burning lust.

"Prove it." Sakura smiled and let him help her up from the ground. She dusted the dirt from her backside and gave Itachi a sultry look.

"Maybe I will." She brushed past Itachi slowly, her gloved hand trailing along his arm. Sakura headed for Kisame, who was still sitting on the ground with his head in his hands.

"Alright there fish face? Itachi sure showed you who's boss!" Kisame growled, removing one of his hands to swat at the young kunoichi. He, of course, completely missed and let his hand fall to the ground. Sakura laughed and leaned in closer to look at his head.

"Your head looks fine, probably just a little bump from slamming into the tree. How's your chest? I know for a fact we both hit you pretty hard in the chest." Kisame lifted his shirt. Purple bruises were already starting to form, replacing the angry red skin from the immediate attack. She pulled off her gloves and placed her hand on the bruise, smiling when he recoiled back.

"You fucking baby, I'm gonna heal them. You might have a cracked rib. Itachi! Calm your chakra. It's fluctuating. You're going to break your henge if you don't... Oh, yeah, I feel it too. Shit." Sakura cursed, her hand glowing as she slowly healed Kisame's beaten torso. She felt Itachi's chakra fade away, and listened as he walked up behind her.

"What is he doing here? I thought he was with Orochimaru." He said quietly, his hand absently touching her hair. Sakura pulled her hand away from the now perfectly clear skin and let Kisame pull his shirt back down.

"I thought so too. Something fishy is going on here. I saw him only two weeks ago, remember? I got into a... confrontation with my old team in the woods. Unless some serious shit went down within those two weeks, then someone is trying to mess with your head, Itachi. Get you to believe your brother is taking a more drastic approach in finding you." Sakura stretched her legs out along the ground, tilting her head down so she could see her torso when she pulled her shirt up. As she expected, just a slight wound.

Itachi stared at her, thinking over what she just said while Kisame stood up and looked out past the trees towards Konoha.

"Great, another thing we have to look into while we're here... And here I thought this mission was going to be easy." Kisame remarked, his eyes still trained to the direction of the village. Sakura grunted in response and tugged her shirt down.

"But not too difficult. It'll be like killing two birds with one stone. Maybe that will make leader-sama happy!" Sakura clapped her hands together, and stood up, stuffing her gloves into her pocket as soon as she was standing.

"Yeah. Lets head back. We can discuss what our plans are about night patrol." Itachi said from behind Sakura, his hand finding its way onto her shoulder. Kisame grinned, showing off a row off perfectly dull, human teeth.

"Sounds good! My head is beginning to hurt from keeping up this henge. My chakra control is nowhere near the control you two have. Plus I smell. Smell my pits pinky, they smell like shit!" Sakura looked at Kisame in horror as he started to advance towards her. She ducked down behind Itachi and flipped Kisame off.

"Fuck you fish-face. You smell like rotten fish even on a good day. Kami knows how bad you smell after a spar. There's probably a new strain of poison being created in there." Kisame just laughed, bringing his arm down with a heavy swing.

"You're a horrible person pinky. You fit in with us just fine!" Sakura gave Itachi a sheepish smile and straightened herself up. Itachi just heaved a sigh and grabbed her arm, tugging her forwards.

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**So, I suck at anything fighting related. But I'm good at bullshitting xD**

**Now, I'm really not sure how many more chapters there will be. In the back of my mind, **

**I feel like this story is going to last forever. But I am praying I can get it done within 10  
**

**chapters.**

**But who knows! haha~**

**Until next time :D**


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